Revenant Memoir
by KimuraSato
Summary: Danny deals with the trials of life, marriage, and raising children. (Dash x Danny)
1. Chapter 1

**Revenant Memoir**

**Pairing:** Dash x Danny

**Warnings: **Homosexual relationships. Main DP characters start in their 20s and grow older through the story. Implied sexual relations. Death. Abuse. Mention of rape. Violence. Foul language.

**Disclaimer:** Danny Phantom is a product of Nickelodeon. All characters in this story are imaginary.

**Summary: **Danny deals with the trials of life, marriage, and raising children.

**Originally Written: **June 2004 - July 2005

**Note: **This story was originally titled "People Change with Time," but I felt it didn't really fit the story.

**Chapter 01**

Danny sighed tiredly as he reached for the remaining book on the cart. Once he put this book away, his shift at the library would be over and he would be allowed to return to his single bedroom apartment to sleep the rest of the night away. He had to wake up at five the next morning for his class. Why did he have to pick a class so early in the morning? Waking up early four days a week was beginning to take a toll on him. And fighting the occasional ghost didn't help him receive the sleep he needed. Danny walked around the bookshelf, searching for the book's proper place. Halfway down the aisle, he bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I-" Danny swallowed the rest of his words when he looked up to see whom he hit.

"Fenton," Dash said as he stared at the man before him.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" Danny stuttered, taking a small step away from the other man. The last thing he wanted right now was to invoke the wrath of Dash Baxter, star player of the Casper High Ravens football team. Well, former star since they graduated from high school already and now attended college.

"Looking for a book, obviously. This is a library," Dash responded with a snort and returned his gaze to the bookshelf.

"What book?" Even though they weren't on the best of terms, Danny had to be polite to the customers and offer to help them search for anything they needed.

"Why are you asking?" Dash eyed Danny, wondering if there was some ulterior motive.

"Well, I - I work here, so I could help you… look for anything that you need," Danny replied, his hands growing sweaty with nervousness. _Please don't let this be a reason for him to beat me up_, Danny prayed.

Dash frowned and contemplated whether or not to tell Danny what he was looking for. He didn't think Danny would break out into laughter and start teasing him since he could see the other man's hands shaking slightly. _He's still afraid I'll beat him up_, Dash thought, and his frown increased. That shouldn't have surprised him after all the bullying he had done in high school.

"I'm looking for a cook book on French cuisine," Dash finally answered.

"A… cook book?" Danny blinked, thinking he heard that wrong. When Dash didn't respond to correct him, Danny smiled weakly. "Well, first, this is the historical section. Let me put this book away, and I'll show you to the cooking section." Danny continued a little ways down the aisle and put the book in its proper place. "Okay. The cooking section is this way." Danny led Dash through the library to the requested section. "If there's anything else you need, let me know. Though make it quick because my shift just ended."

"So where are your buds?" Dash questioned casually as he scanned the shelves for a book on French cuisine.

"Sam went to college in New York, and Tucker went to California." Danny wanted to run away before he gave Dash a reason to beat him up, but he felt obligated to stay since he had already offered to help Dash with anything.

Dash nodded, picking up a book and flipping through it before placing it back on the shelf. Danny fidgeted, not sure what to say but feeling uncomfortable in the silence.

"So… why are you looking for a cook book anyway?" Danny asked, his voice trembling only a little.

"I'm taking courses at the culinary school nearby."

"Culinary school? But didn't you get accepted to Casper University on a football scholarship?" Danny struggled to wrap his mind around the answer Dash had given him. Dash wanted to cook rather than get a free ride playing football? It simply didn't make sense to Danny.

"You obviously don't pay much attention to the news," Dash muttered, finally deciding on a book.

_Sorry! I've been busy fighting ghosts and trying to keep up with work and school. It's not easy for me_, Danny grumbled to himself. "Did something happen?" Danny inquired. He shrank back a little when Dash stepped forward, towering over him.

"During the summer after our senior year, my father and I got in a car accident. My father died. And my left knee was badly damaged. The doctors said I could destroy my knee if I continue playing football so I couldn't accept the scholarship," Dash explained in a neutral voice.

"I'm… sorry." Danny lowered his gaze, feeling bad for bringing such a tragic event up again.

"Doesn't matter," Dash stated with a shrug. He started walking to the check-out desk at the front of the library. Danny followed, lacking any idea of what to say now. "I'm actually a little relieved my knee got damaged. I didn't really want to play football in college."

"You didn't?" Danny felt like his head was spinning. Had Dash really changed so much in the two years that they hadn't seen each other? After Dash checked out the book, he exited the library. Danny's feet moved on their own, like Dash had some magnetic force making him follow the man.

"My father was the one who wanted me to play. The day of the accident, we got in a big fight because I wanted to go to the culinary school, but my father refused to have me waste my athletic abilities by going to some stupid school to learn to cook." Dash sighed and shook his head. "He thinks cooking is something only women should do. But I wanted to cook! And it just made me so frustrated and pissed off that he wouldn't let me live my own life." Dash paused and turned on Danny, shocking the man. "I feel bad for taking out all that built up frustration on you during high school. Why don't I make it up to you by cooking you dinner?"

"Okay," Danny replied hesitantly, stunned by the sudden apology and invitation. Dash smiled, seeming happy with the response, and started walking up the steps of the apartment complex. _Wow! He lives in a nice place_, Danny thought enviously when they entered Dash's one bedroom apartment. Compared to Danny's apartment, Dash's was a lot bigger. And the apartment was so clean! Danny thought Dash's place would be a total mess.

"Just take a seat, and I'll get started on dinner," Dash stated as he headed into his kitchen.

Danny complied and plopped down on the cushy couch. He looked around the room, feeling out of place. It almost felt like he had entered the Twilight Zone. Noticing some photos framed and mounted on the wall, Danny twisted around on the couch to get a better look at them. He nearly burst into laughter when he spotted a photo of Dash at about four years old. Little Dash was sitting in the kitchen with, what Danny assumed to be, raspberry jam all over his face. He was smiling at the camera, hands raised above his head, and looking too cute for words. Danny was so absorbed in looking at the photos from Dash's childhood, that he didn't realize Dash had entered the room again with their dinner.

"See any you like?" Dash asked, leaning in close to whisper into Danny's ear.

Danny jumped in surprise and tried to fight back a blush of embarrassment. "Sorry," he mumbled as he sat down on the couch again.

"You don't have to apologize," Dash assured him. "Now shall we eat?" He gestured to the dishes he had prepared.

Danny's jaw dropped in amazement. The three plates set before him all looked delicious. He picked up his fork and stabbed it through a sliver of steak on the first plate. Dash watched in amusement as different expression played on Danny's face while he ate.

"This is all so good," Danny said, praising the other man when he finished. "I never would have thought you would be such an amazing cook. You - You're a lot different than you were in high school." He shrank a little away from Dash. Even if he seemed different, it didn't mean the man wouldn't try to hurt him again for saying something wrong.

"I'm surprised you didn't run away the first chance you got," Dash said with a laugh, scooting over on the couch and closing the distance between them. "I did some pretty awful things to you in high school." He slipped his hand into Danny's hand, lacing their fingers. Danny flinched a little but didn't reject the action. "Just because I was having problems with my father didn't mean I should take out my frustrations on you. I should have found some other way to cope. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to keep apologizing," Danny assured him. "I mean – well, we all had our problems in high school." A strange feeling twisted in his gut, and he couldn't understand why he wasn't backing away when Dash started leaning closer. He couldn't take his eyes away from Dash's eyes as his heartbeat quickened.

Dash brushed his lips gently over Danny's lips. When the man didn't freak out, Dash pressed his lips fully onto the other man's lips. Danny's eyes slid shut as the strange feeling became stronger. He had never experienced anything like this before, mostly because he had never had a girlfriend to kiss. All the girls thought he was a loser and rejected him. Sam had told him it would be too weird to date her best friend. Danny had never considered getting a boyfriend before; however, now he thought maybe that he should definitely put that option on the table.

Dash pushed Danny back on the couch as his tongue sought entrance into the other man's mouth. Danny gave in, parting his lips for the insistent tongue. Dash's hands slipped under Danny's shirt and explored the smooth plane of his torso. Danny's muscles tensed at the touch, not used to such caresses. When Dash's fingers brushed over one of his nipples, Danny broke the kiss by throwing his head back. His body arched into the body above him, wanting more. Dash smirked and lowered his mouth upon the nipple. Danny's mind was overwhelmed by the pleasure that Dash's ministrations were giving him, making it hard for him to concentrate on what was happening.

Danny groaned as he woke up the next morning. He peeked out from under the nice warm covers to check the clock. It was already ten-thirty. He rolled over, throwing the covers over his head again. After a minute, he shot up, throwing the covers off him again.

"Ten-thirty! I missed my class!" Danny cursed under his breath as he pulled on his boxers and pants. He grabbed his shirt off the floor as he headed out of the bedroom. He stopped when he realized this wasn't even his apartment. Images of what happened the previous night flashed in his mind, and Danny felt a blush rising to his cheeks. He glanced into the bedroom, but saw no sign of Dash. Frowning, he walked around the apartment, but he didn't see Dash anywhere. When he noticed a note with his name on it, Danny stopped and picked up the piece of paper. After unfolding it, he read:

_Danny,_

_Sorry to run out on you, but I had to get to class. I was going to wake you up before leaving, but you just looked so cute that I didn't want to disturb you. Feel free to eat anything you want and take a shower, if you want. I left a key to my apartment next to this note so lock up whenever you leave._

_Dash_

_P.S. – Last night really meant something to me. I hope we'll meet again because I don't want this to be a onetime thing_.

Danny smiled as he folded the note up and stuffed it in his pants pocket. He exited the apartment, locking it as he left. He started humming to himself as he walked down the street, holding the key in his hand which he stuffed into his pocket. For some reason, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

"Congratulations, Tucker," Danny said as he smiled at his best friend.

"Thanks, Danny," Tucker replied and smiled back. "I was afraid you wouldn't come because, after all, it was Paulina. You had such a bad crush on her in high school. I'm glad you came though. I wouldn't want anyone else as my best man."

"Dude, don't worry about it. I got over that crush years ago. I'm happy for you." Danny patted Tucker on the back as they looked at all the guests. "I sure was shocked when the invitation came though. How did you ever get Paulina to go out with you in the first place?"

"Long story, my friend," Tucker replied, grinning as he recalled his first date with Paulina.

"There you two are," Sam said as she came up behind the two men.

Danny turned and stared at his other best friend. "Whoa! Sam, you look beautiful." He grinned and gave her a hug.

"Where is little Sandra? I haven't seen her since she was a baby," Tucker said, looking for the little girl.

"Tom's looking after her. Congratulations on the wedding, Tucker. I have to admit, I thought you were lying when you told me you told me you were dating Paulina."

"Hey, that hurts!" Tucker held a hand over his chest in mock pain. "I would never lie about something like that."

"You told Sam about Paulina, and you never said anything to me?" Danny looked a little hurt at being left out of the loop.

"You, like, dropped off the face of the planet, Danny. I was lucky Jazz had your address so I could send you an invitation," Tucker said in his defense.

"Yeah. How come you never told us you switched universities and moved?" Sam inquired.

"Sorry, I-" Danny shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. Sorry. I really should have told you guys."

"I guess we can forgive you." Sam grinned. "Oh, and congratulations on your book becoming a best seller, Danny."

"Thanks, Sam. Who would have thought all my experience fighting ghosts would be a way to make money?" Danny joked with a chuckle.

"Tucker, honey, you have to come talk with my family," Paulina said as she latched onto his arm. "Some of them haven't met you yet."

"Sorry, guys, I'll talk with you later." Tucker waved to them while Paulina dragged him farther into the crowd of wedding guests.

"I'm still surprised that they got married." Danny laughed, watching the happy couple.

"You aren't feeling a little jealous, are you?" Sam questioned, nudging Danny in the ribs.

"No way! Like I told Tucker, I'm over my crush on Paulina."

"I didn't mean it that way." Sam sighed. "You're the only one of us who has gotten married. I mean, you aren't even dating anyone."

"It's not like I can't get a date. I've gone out with tons of people. I just haven't found the right person yet," Danny argued, glaring at Sam. _That's a lie though. I did find the right person. I just missed my chance_, Danny thought, feeling a little depressed.

"Whatever you say, Danny." Sam rolled her eyes. "Anyway I have to find Tom. I have to make sure he hasn't let Sandra get into any trouble."

"Okay, I'll see you later then." Danny watched her walk away.

When he couldn't see her anymore, Danny let the smile fade from his face. Maybe Sam was right. He was jealous of the happiness that Sam and Tucker had found. His hand felt around in his pocket and found the key he had received seven years ago. It was the last keepsake he had from the person he loved. When he returned to the apartment that the key belong to a month later, he found it empty. Dash had left him without a word. In a fit of depression and rage, Danny tore up the note he held onto from the morning after their one night together, but he kept the key.

After a look around the room reserved for the wedding's reception, Danny snuck out unnoticed. He had put up the appearance of being happy with life all day, and he didn't think he could keep it up anymore. Right now, he only wanted to return to his hotel room and wallow in his depression. Maybe if he had visited Dash's apartment earlier, things would have turned out differently. Leaning against the wall outside the room, Danny wondered where Dash was right now.

"F-Fenton!"

"Dash," Danny whispered, pushing off the wall. Dash stood before him in a chef outfit, holding a chef's hat in his hands. Danny almost couldn't believe his eyes. He was tempted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Do you work here?"

"Yeah, I'm head chef," Dash replied. "When Paulina called me up about the wedding, I offered to get them a good deal on a room here for the reception."

"Head chef? That's great!" Danny forced a smile onto his face. Part of him wanted to yell at the man, to throw a punch at him. But he managed to squash the urge.

"I heard you're a writer. Your latest book just became a best seller, didn't it?" Dash asked, and Danny nodded in response. "Congratulations. Um," Dash said, glancing around like he was searching for the proper words. He sighed and turned his gaze back to the other man. "Danny, I'm sorry for disappearing on you. But I got this great offer to study in France and I couldn't pass it up. I wanted to contact you, but I had forgotten to ask for your address and phone number that day. I'll understand if you hate me for just leaving you like that."

"I was so angry when I entered that apartment again to find it empty," Danny told him, his fist closing tightly around the key in his pocket. "I thought maybe you had been playing some kind of cruel joke on me. I wanted to hate you for it. I even wish I could hate you right now for what you did. But I can't." Danny looked straight into Dash's eyes. "Because that night, I fell in love with you. I tried to deny it for years. I thought it was crazy that I could fall for someone so fast. But no matter who I was with, I could only think of you." Danny shook his head, dropping his gaze. He felt like a fool.

"Danny," Dash whispered before he wrapped his arms around Danny and pulled him closer. "Let's try again. This time I promise not to disappear."

"I'd like that," Danny said as he lifted his gaze up to the other man again. Dash ran a hand through Danny's raven locks and drew the man's head closer. Their lips met in a sweet chaste kiss filled with seven years of longing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03**

"So you can't make it tomorrow?" Danny questioned sadly, twirling the phone cord around his finger.

Danny listened to Dash explain how the staff at the restaurant had screwed things up and he had to prepare most of the meals again. And tomorrow the restaurant would be hosting a wedding reception for over three hundred people. Danny started feeling more depressed with each complaint Dash made. It seemed like Dash spent every waking moment at the restaurant. Danny was truly happy for Dash. His restaurant was doing well since its opening five months ago. But he rarely ever saw Dash anymore.

"I guess I'll see you later then. Sorry for calling you at work," Danny said and then hung up the phone with a long sigh. He couldn't help but feel lonely with Dash busy all the time. Danny stared at the blank computer screen before him. He should be working on his next book, but he couldn't think of anything. His loneliness and depression seemed to be creating a block in his creativity. Turning back to the phone, Danny dialed the number of one of his best friends.

"Hello! Tucker Foley speaking," the other man said when he answered the phone.

"Hey, Tuck! It's Danny. It's been a while since we last talked," Danny said grinning. "How are things?"

"We talked two days ago. But anyway, Paulina comes back from her business trip in Italy today."

"And how's little Danielle?" Danny hadn't seen his little god-daughter for a few months. His brow shot up when he heard a crash on the other end of the line.

"Currently, she's playing in the dirt of the pot she just knocked over," Tucker answered with a groan. "I have to go, Danny. She might hurt herself on the broken pot pieces."

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow though, right?"

"You bet! See ya," Tucker replied before he hung up the phone.

Danny did the same. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. He would have called Sam as well, but she and her family were in Hawaii for a vacation. After a moment, he stood up and grabbed his coat from the closet. Then he left the apartment, heading out into the cold winter weather. Spotting all the happy couples walking hand-in-hand made Danny even more depressed. He thought things would be better now that he had Dash in his life again, but the happiness had only lasted until the opening of Dash's restaurant. Danny almost wondered if Dash loved his restaurant more than him.

Danny plopped down on one of the benches in the park near their apartment building. It overlooked a little lake, now frozen over with a few people skating on it. Danny pulled his coat tighter around himself, looking up to the sky, as a grim smile crossed his face. He didn't notice when it got dark out or when the skaters left.

"Mind if I join you?" someone asked, making Danny jump at the sudden arrival.

When he turned around on the bench, Danny found his lover. He scooted over on the bench, and Dash sat down beside him. "Why aren't you at the restaurant?" Danny asked, staring at his hands.

"It closes at eleven," Dash answered with a smirk as he slipped his hand into one of Danny's hands. Lifting his gaze to Dash, Danny looked confused. "It's ten past twelve now. How long have you been sitting here?"

Danny shrugged with a small roll of his shoulders. Turning Dash's hand palm up in his lap, Danny compared the sizes, not surprised to find Dash's hand was bigger than his own. Releasing a contented sigh, Danny leaned his head against Dash's shoulder.

"I wish we spent more time like this together, just sitting and enjoying each other's company," Danny whispered.

"I should have noticed how this was affecting you sooner," Dash stated as he slid an arm around Danny's waist, drawing him closer. "I'm sorry we haven't seen each other a lot lately. Things are just really hectic at the restaurant. I promise I'll start taking more days off so we can spend more time together."

"Maybe you should think of hiring a new staff that won't make so many mistakes preparing the meals," Danny mumbled, letting his eyes slide shut.

"I tested all the applicants, and they all had about the same skill level." Dash leaned down, placing a kiss on Danny's forehead. "If we had moved somewhere else maybe I could have found a better staff."

"I told you that I need to stay here." Danny sighed, pulling out of Dash's hold.

"But you never told me why you couldn't move away," Dash argued, a little annoyed with his lover keeping secrets from him.

Danny stood and walked a few feet forward. With his back to Dash, Danny stared up at the bright moon. Dash approached his lover and reached for the other man's shoulder, but Danny stepped away from his touch.

"You really want to know the secret I've been keeping from you?" Danny asked quietly.

"I think I deserve to know."

Danny gave a sharp nod. He knew he should have told Dash earlier, but he was afraid Dash wouldn't accept him when he learned the truth. Dash's eyes grew wide when he saw the rings of light travel up and down Danny's body, revealing the black and white hazmat suit of Danny's ghost form. His mouth dropped open in shock at the sight of Danny's hair, now as white as the snow covering the ground around them. Danny turned to face Dash and slowly opened green eyes glowing brightly.

"Just what are you?" Dash asked hesitantly. He didn't want Danny to feel rejected, but his mind was having trouble digesting what Danny was showing him.

Danny lowered his gaze while his expression grew sadder. A heavy sigh escaped him before he said anything. "Fifteen years ago, I was in an accident in my parents' lab. They made a portal to the Ghost Zone, but it didn't work right away. I went inside to take a look at things. While I was in there, something happened, and it messed up my molecules or something. So now I'm half ghost, and I need to stay here to stop the ghosts coming through the portal." Danny glanced up briefly to gauge Dash's reaction. "I'll understand if this changes things between us."

"Danny," Dash said, sighing and bopping the man on the head. "You could be covered in scales with warts on your nose and hair growing out your ears, and I would still love you."

"Are you sure? I would look pretty ugly like that," Danny said skeptically, turning back to human form.

"I wouldn't care. I love you no matter what you are." Dash pulled Danny into his arms. "I just wish you trusted me enough to tell me this sooner."

"I didn't want to lose you." Danny nuzzled his head into the crook of Dash's neck as they swayed slightly to the non-existent music. "I was kind of expecting you to freak out when I told you," Danny admitted softly.

"Well, it does explain why you suddenly disappear sometimes," Dash said, thinking about all the weird phenomenon that he had witnessed over the past two years of being with Danny. "It's getting late though. We should go back home," Dash said after a while of silence.

"But then we'll just go to sleep. And you'll get up early to go to work, and then I'll go to my first book signing. And I don't want to do that because I just want to be with you," Danny complained, pouting at his lover.

"Who said anything about sleeping?" Dash smirked. He seized Danny's lips in a kiss that slowly grew more passionate. When they parted, Danny's already pink-tinged cheeks turned a shade darker at the thoughts of what would happen once they returned to their apartment. Dash draped an arm over Danny's shoulders as they walked home.

"How did you know I would be in the park?" Danny suddenly asked.

"Because that's your favorite place to go to clear you head," Dash grinned at him.

"You know me too well." Danny sighed, leaning into Dash as they walked. "Do you think we could get a dog?"

"A dog would be too much trouble." Dash groaned at the thoughts of how much a dog could mess up their apartment. "It'll chew on things. And if you don't walk it often, it might poop and pee everywhere. And it'll distract you from writing. A dog isn't a good choice."

"But I want a pet to keep me company while you're busy working," Danny argued. It wasn't his first choice, but it sounded better than spending many lonely days with Dash stuck at work. "If not a dog, what can I get?"

"Um, how about… a cat?" Dash suggested. "A cat won't be as much trouble to look after."

"Great! It can be your Christmas present to me." Danny grinned. "I think I'll name him Grendel."

"What if it's a girl?"

"I'll still name it Grendel." Danny was happy at the idea of getting a pet cat but even happier that Dash had promised to take more days off work. They walked the rest of the way home in silence as little snowflakes drifted down slowly from the sky to blanket the ground with another layer of whiteness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 04**

Dash opened the door to their apartment and tossed his keys onto the nearby table before closing the door. He paused for a moment, leaning back against the door, as he took deep breaths to calm himself from the long run. There had been a few problems at the restaurant, forcing him to stay later than usual. He promised to be home early to celebrate their three year anniversary. They decided the date of their anniversary would be the day of their first official date after reuniting at Tucker and Paulina's wedding.

When Dash noticed the silence of the apartment, he became worried that Danny was angry with him for being late. Hanging his head, Dash released a sigh. He hated upsetting Danny, and since it was their anniversary, he felt even worse. Walking farther into the apartment, he found the lights dimmed but no Danny. He entered the bedroom to discover his lover sitting in the middle of their king-sized bed. Danny had a solemn expression on his face as his hand slowly ran over the fur of his gray cat.

Dash frowned, becoming even more worried. Usually when he came home, he would meet with Danny running about the house with string trailing behind him and the cat chasing after him trying to catch the dancing string. The only times Dash had ever seen the two like this was when Danny was falling asleep.

"Danny, is everything all right?" Dash asked cautiously as he stepped closer to the bed.

"Shh, Grendel is sleeping," Danny whispered. His hand paused, resting just below the cat's front leg. He remained still; his gaze focused on the cat in his lap.

Dash walked even closer until he stood beside the bed. He stared at the pair, watching them closely. It took a moment, but he noticed just how the still the cat was. Even when the cat slept, its legs would twitch every now and then. Sometimes the cat would release a broken cry like calling out to a bird within its dream.

"Danny, are you sure the cat's only asleep?" Dash felt awkward asking such a thing, but he feared the cat might not wake again.

"Yes," Danny hissed, his hand tightening on the cat's body. Dash noted that the cat didn't even react. After a moment of tense silence, Danny removed his hand from the cat's body. He finally lifted his gaze to meet with the other man's eyes. Tears formed in the corner of his eyes as his lower lip trembled. "I don't Grendel to be dead."

"Danny, Grendel was old. The pet store owner even said he might not last a full year," Dash stated, but concern could be heard in his voice. He knew how much Danny had grown attached to the cat. "Perhaps we should look for another cat. One that's younger and will last longer."

"No," Danny shouted, turning his head away quickly, as the tears began to fall. "I don't want another one," he whispered. His voice broke, and his hand started running through the cat's soft fur again. "The other cats didn't like me at all. They kept scratching at me. Only Grendel liked me, and I only liked Grendel. Getting another cat wouldn't be the same. I wouldn't have as much fun taking care of any other cat. I don't want a different cat. I only want Grendel!"

"I understand, Danny," Dash whispered. He sat beside his lover, and Danny rested his head upon his lover's shoulder. "If you don't want another cat, we won't get one."

"He used to purr whenever I scratched behind his ears," Danny announced softly. He demonstrated the action but grew even more depressed when the cat made no noise. "I deal with dead people all the time. Why is it so difficult for me to let him go?" Danny sniffled, bringing his arm up to wipe away the tears.

"Because you loved little Grendel," Dash answered simply. "You have no emotional attachment to the ghosts you fight against, so when you send them back to the Ghost Zone, it doesn't affect you. But when it's someone close to you, even a pet, it's going to be difficult to deal with. I would have a difficult time coping with life if you were to die."

"What… what should I do now?" Danny asked, his voice becoming so soft that Dash almost missed his question. "I've never actually had anyone close to me die."

"First let's find a box to place him in," Dash suggested. He stood and lifted the cat from his lover's lap.

Danny made no move to stop the action. He would have to move on sooner or later, and he had spent the better part of the day grieving over the little cat's death. Once Dash found a box big enough to fit the cat, he placed the body inside, being extra careful like it was a precious jewel and not the corpse of a cat. A small smile tugged at Danny's mouth. Dash was treating the cat in such way more out of seriousness of the situation than out of mockery of his feelings. Danny appreciated that fact; that Dash would be so caring in such a matter even though he hadn't particularly loved the cat himself. After closing the lid on the box, Dash looked back to Danny.

"We could get him cremated if you liked. Or we could find a cemetery that allows the burial of pets," Dash suggested.

"A burial would be okay," Danny said as he walked over and wrapped his arms around the man's neck. "Have I told you today just how much I love you?"

"I don't believe you have," Dash answered. He kissed Danny's forehead before moving lower to kiss the man's nose. Danny's eyes slipped shut as Dash kissed first the right eyelid and then the left eyelid. Dash finally moved lower, seizing Danny's lips in a tender kiss. He didn't want to push Danny into anything after something so tragic. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner," Dash whispered, his lips brushing against the other man's lips as he spoke.

"I'm not mad at you for being late." Danny nuzzled his head into the crook of Dash's neck. "You couldn't have done anything to save Grendel even if you had come home when you said you would. I'm just glad you're here now."

"Today was our third year anniversary," Dash mumbled. He knew this wasn't exactly the best time to ask, but he had planned to ask on this very night. And a part of him thought that maybe it would cheer Danny up a little. "I'm hoping that next year we'll be celebrating a one year anniversary-"

Before Dash could finish speaking, Danny pulled away from him. His eyes widened as he stared at his lover. "Are - Are you asking me to marry you?" Danny questioned in shock.

"Well, it's more like a civil union," Dash answered, scratching the back of his head, "since, you know, they have that whole ban on gay marriages." Dash reached into his pocket to retrieve the small black box covered in a soft fabric. He opened it to show his lover the item inside it. A soft smile spread over Danny's face as his finger ran over the smooth surface of the gold band.

"This does make me very happy. But can we discuss it more after," Danny glanced to the box containing Grendel's corpse, "we have the burial?"

"We can make plans whenever you're ready," Dash answered, smiling, before he embraced his lover.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 05**

The next morning, Dash called around to the local cemeteries until he found one that would allow the burial of dead pets. Meanwhile, Danny had showered and searched through his closets for any black clothing to wear. All he found were a black, long-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans. So the pants weren't actually black, but they were dark enough to be mistaken as black. He didn't think it would matter much since no one else would be attending the burial for Grendel.

Once Danny stepped through the bedroom's door, Dash told him about the cemetery. It was an hour walk away. Dash grabbed their jackets from the closet, but before he could hand his lover his black waist-length coat, Danny had disappeared into their room. When he returned, Danny's pants pocket had a round bulge, and Dash could guess what the man had stuffed into it. Danny threw on his coat while Dash grabbed the box containing Grendel's corpse off the counter of their kitchenette. Then they left their apartment.

Neither man spoke during their hour walk to the cemetery. Danny had his hands stuffed into his pockets, fingers wrapping over the object he had taken from the apartment. The noise around them, birds chirping, cars speeding by, children screaming, echoed loudly in Danny's ears. He tried to force the sounds from his mind and clear his head. He still felt depressed over his cat's death, but it wasn't as extreme as it had been the previous day when he found Grendel lying dead on the floor in their kitchenette.

When they arrived at the cemetery, the grave keeper guided them through graveyard to the spot where they would bury the cat's corpse. Dash paid the man the money for the small stone engraved with "Grendel" that would mark the cat's grave. The grave keeper had taken the liberty to call up a priest to perform a small ceremony. Dash then placed the box into the hole.

Before they could fill the hole again, Danny knelt down and lifted the lid. He pulled out a blue and green tennis ball from his pocket and placed it gently beside the cat's corpse. Dash refrained from snorting at the object. He had laughed when Danny bought it for the cat, saying the cat wouldn't play with a tennis ball. The cat had proven him wrong within a week. The tennis ball quickly became the cat's favorite toy. It was now fuzzy with a few chunks torn from it. Danny replaced the lid upon the box, and then he watched as they tossed dirt into the hole until it was completely filled.

Danny thanked the grave keeper and the priest. Linking arms together, the couple exited the cemetery and started making their way back to their apartment. Danny sighed in contentment as he leaned his head upon Dash's shoulder while they walked down the noisy streets.

"Thanks for doing this for me," Danny said, a smile tugging at his lips. "I know it seems silly to hold a funeral for a cat, but it really did help me, you know, start to move on."

"It's not that silly," Dash argued as he unlinked his arm with Danny's arm to wrap it around his lover's waist. "I once held my own funeral when I buried my pet turtle."

Danny released a small laugh with a shake of his head. He could just imagine a little Dash with tears running down his face as he dug a hole in his mother's garden to bury his dead turtle. He leaned up and placed a kiss upon the man's cheek. Dash always found a way to cheer up Danny.

* * *

Four months later, Dash and Danny held a small ceremony for their civil union, but Danny refused to refer to it as anything but a wedding even if it technically wasn't a real wedding. The guest list was rather small. Sam came with her husband Tom and their daughter Sandra. Tucker and Paulina brought their daughter Danielle.

Jazz showed up, though she still had no boyfriend. She said she preferred the single life. It gave her time to focus on her work. But she was happy with her life, so Danny didn't pester her too much about the lack of a love life. Danny's parents came as well and were quite shocked when they discovered Danny was gay. Danny hadn't told them yet and hadn't said who he was "marrying" when he called to invite them. He felt a little ashamed for not telling them sooner, but he had feared their reaction. Jack gave him a firm pat on the back with his large hand, a proud smile on his wrinkled face. Maddie pulled Danny into a tight embrace, making him gasp and choke as she cut off his air supply.

Dash's mother came, reacting much the way Maddie had. Danny was glad to see Mrs. Baxter hadn't rejected her son when Dash told her he was gay. A few of Dash's football buddies from Casper High showed up too – a few being three: Kwan and two other guys Danny hadn't really known. Kwan made a few teasing jokes about Dash and Danny being together. It made the couple laugh, and Dash was glad to see that Kwan could joke so easily about their relationship. Dash had always been close with Kwan, and it would have hurt him quite a bit if Kwan had made the jokes in a cruel fashion just to be mean to the couple.

The ceremony hadn't lasted more than an hour. Both of their mothers were wiping tears from their eyes by the end of the ceremony, both saying how they thought they would never get to see the day when their sons would marry. Sandra was scribbling on a piece of paper with a crayon, hardly paying attention to what was happening around her. Danielle had fallen asleep in her mother's arms since the ceremony was during her afternoon nap time.

After the ceremony ended, they all returned to Dash's restaurant where he had made arrangements for a reception to be held for the small group. One of the staff members wheeled in the two-layer wedding cake with two plastic figures set on top. The two figures were both male with the dark haired one standing shorter than the blond one. Danny rolled his eyes, smiling up at his lover as they cut the cake together. Dash decided to be nice and didn't shove the first piece into Danny's face. They cut more pieces for everyone else but gave the two little girls much smaller pieces.

Dash joined his football buddies as they discussed what they had been doing since they last time they saw each other. Danny spoke with Dash's mother, getting to know his new mother-in-law. Sam and Paulina sat with their daughters, laughing as they shared stories about taking care of their children. Tom and Jazz were having a heated debate about psychology and other such intellectual topics. Meanwhile, Maddie and Jack would mingle in with the different groups, occasionally bringing up ghosts, which annoyed Jazz still and only slightly embarrassed Danny. Sometime during the whole reception, Dash broke away from his football buddies, and Tucker took that opportunity to approach the man.

"Is it just me or does Danny sometimes look a little depressed?" Tucker questioned the man, his eyes glancing toward his friend who bore a weak smile while listening to Mrs. Baxter tell stories about when Dash was little. When he caught his lover's eye, Danny smiled at him, and it no longer looked like he was forcing it upon his face.

"He's been going through some mood swings recently," Dash admitted as he continued to watch his lover. "I think the death of his cat might have had more of an effect on him than he thought it did. He's been trying to act like he's over it, but I think he's still hurting over it."

"Grendel died?" Tucker looked stunned. "When did that happen?"

"Four months ago," Dash said as he released a sigh. "I told him we could always get another cat, but he refused."

"I can understand. He really loved that cat. Grendel was the only one there to provide him with company while you were obsessed with the restaurant."

"Hey, I've become less obsessed!" Dash argued. "I only stay late or come in on my off days when a serious emergency comes up."

"You don't need to defend yourself." Tucker laughed. "I'm sure Danny understands that this restaurant means a lot to you since it's been your dream to own one. And Danny's not going to complain if you have to deal with an emergency."

"I know, and I know he gets lonely when I have to work a lot." Dash shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if I can ever make him truly happy."

"Dash," Tucker said with a roll of his eyes, "I hate to admit this, but Danny is totally head over heels in love with you. I mean, yeah, he dated a lot of people when you disappeared on him. But he never committed to any of them. He never even kissed one of them. Danny can't be happy with anyone but you."

"So then why does he keep going through these bouts of depression?" Dash questioned, his brow furrowing with worry.

"I don't know," Tucker mumbled as he glanced toward Sam and Paulina as they played with Sandra and Danielle. "Perhaps he wants something more."

"What do you mean?" Dash looked more confused.

"I mean, maybe he wants a bigger family." Tucker almost smacked his forehead when the confused expression stayed on Dash's face. "Perhaps Danny wants a child of his own to take care of."

"But," Dash frowned. He searched the room for his lover and found the man had joined the Sam and Paulina. Dash smiled fondly as he watched Danny play with the two little girls.

"I think he would make a great father," Tucker stated, watching as well. "After all, he does such a great job taking care of Sandra and Danielle."

"Perhaps you're right," Dash mumbled before taking a sip of his champagne.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 06**

"I can't believe we're doing this," Danny said, breaking the silence of the little room.

"Doing what?" Dash asked. He looked up from the paper in his hands to stare at his lover with his brow raised questionably.

"This." Danny gestured to the table covered with papers. "We're looking at what child we might want to adopt. I just can't believe we'll have a kid to take care of."

"But it makes you really happy, right?" Dash grinned at the other man.

Ever since Dash brought up the idea half a year ago, Danny had done nothing but talk about it. They had Danny's friends to thank for making it possible: Tucker for suggesting it to Dash and Sam for helping them with the arrangements. Sam had another friend who was in a homosexual relationship and adopted a child, so she only had to ask them about what they had gone through for the adoption.

Danny sighed as his smile faded. He moved from his couch to the one across the room and flopped down next to Dash. Leaning his head onto the man's shoulder, he took hold of Dash's hand and laced their fingers together. "Adopting a child would make me happier," Danny stated. "But I don't want to bring a child into our life if you're not going love him or her. I only need you to make me happy."

"Danny, I want a child too. I wouldn't have brought up the idea of adoption if I didn't want a child." Dash squeezed his lover's hand gently as he leaned down and kissed Danny on the forehead. "What do you think of this one? I think he looks a little like you."

"Oh, um, I," Danny mumbled with a small blush. "I was looking at this one because he reminded me of you." They exchanged papers, and Danny blinked at the information. He read it over again and turned to his lover. "Dash, their names are the same."

Dash glanced over to read the information on the paper in Danny's hands. "Huh. That's odd. Maybe they made a mistake. Let's go ask them about it." Dash took the paper from Danny's hands as he stood. They left the little room and walked to the front desk. "We need to ask about something," Dash said, setting the two papers on the desk before him.

"Oh, you made a decision already," the woman said with a wide grin plastered to her face. The silver name tag on her white uniform read "Anne" in thick black letters. "I'll let you meet them first, and you can make your final decision afterwards." Anne picked up the papers and walked around the desk.

"Wait. That's-" Dash said, but the woman was already walking down a hallway.

"Let's just go see what he's like," Danny suggested, pushing the man in the direction the woman had gone. Anne stopped by a door near the end of the hall and waited for the two men to arrive.

"Boys, there's a nice couple here to meet you," Anne announced. Danny peeked into the room right as the blond boy ripped a gray teddy bear from the raven haired boy's hands.

"There are two of them?" Danny questioned, turning to the woman. "But the names on the papers were the same."

"Oh," Anne said as her gaze saddened. "Their mother gave them the same name when they were born. They're twins. That isn't a problem, right?"

"No, no problem," Danny responded, elbowing Dash to silence him. "We thought there might have been a mistake with the papers." He turned to Dash after the woman walked back down the hallway. "I want to see what they're like."

"Danny, we only prepared a room for getting one child," Dash said, frowning at his lover.

"We can get them bunk beds, and they can share the room. If we like them, we have to take them both. You can't separate twins. It's just mean and wrong! It's like the horse and carriage. You can't have one without the other."

"The song says love and marriage is like a horse and carriage." Dash sighed when Danny pouted at him with puppy dog eyes. "That's cheating," Dash grumbled. "You know I can't say no when you do that."

"Exactly." Danny grinned at the other man.

"All right. If we like them both, we'll adopt them." Dash placed a small kiss on Danny's forehead before walking into the boys' room. Danny grinned and skipped into the room after his lover.

Danny frowned when the blond boy glared at them. The boy stood defensively before his brother with his little hands on his hips. The raven haired twin kept reaching around his brother, trying to retrieve the teddy bear. With them standing side by side, Danny could see the resemblance in their faces.

"We don't want you," the blond boy stated in a cold voice.

"What do you mean by that?" Dash demanded; hands on hips just like the little boy.

"You're just like all the other people who came before," the boy answered. "You won't adopt us. No one wants to adopt us."

"How can you be so sure that we won't adopt you?" Dash inquired as he folded his arms.

Danny bent down and picked up the teddy bear with a missing arm. Then he walked farther into the room and sat on one of the beds. The raven haired twin followed Danny's movements, his eyes focused on the bear. He glanced toward his brother, who had managed to reduce Dash into a five-year-old as they shouted insulting words at each other. Hesitantly, the boy left his twin's side and padded his way to the bed.

"Is this your teddy?" Danny asked, holding out the bear toward the child.

The boy gave a tentative nod, biting his lip. "T-the arm fell off, s-so I have to throw it away." His lower lip trembled, and tears formed in his large indigo eyes.

"You don't have to throw it away. I can reattach the arm, and it'll be as good as new," Danny offered, watching the boy clutch the bear to his chest.

"Really?" the boy questioned, hope shining in his eyes. Danny nodded, and a wide smile broke onto the boy's face. After glancing at his brother, the boy climbed onto the bed and into Danny's lap. He leaned his head upon Danny's shoulder, arms wrapped tightly around the bear.

"Your brother and you have the same name," Danny said, combing his fingers through the boy's raven locks.

"Yeah, but we never go by that name," he whispered softly. "My brother is Lex, and I'm Xander."

"So why is Lex trying to push us away?"

Xander shifted to lay curled in Danny's lap. "There was a couple that wanted to adopt us, but the man hit me so Lex bit him. Lex doesn't trust any of the couples that come to adopt us."

Danny opened his mouth to respond when Lex let out a shriek of "Stop!" He turned his gaze to the two blond males. Xander jumped in Danny's lap. His eyes grew wide when he heard the laughter bursting from his brother's mouth.

"Dash, don't torture him by tickling him," Danny ordered, though he was ready to break out laughing at Lex's attempts to escape the man's tickling hands.

"He started it," Dash mumbled, releasing the boy, who collapsed to the ground trying to regain his breath after laughing so much.

Danny snickered as he lifted Xander off his lap and set him on the bed. Standing, he walked over to Dash and wrapped his arms around the man's waist. "That's such a little kid thing to say, Dash," Danny said teasingly.

Xander climbed off the edge of the bed and padded to where his brother stood. "I like them," he whispered into his twin's ear.

"They're all right," Lex mumbled, looking the adults over in a scrutinizing manner.

"But I really like them. They're nice, and he promised to fix Kuma." Xander held up the teddy bear with a shy smile on his face.

"So," Danny said as he crouched before the twins, "are you willing to let us adopt you?" He stared mostly at the blond boy, worried that Lex wouldn't like them. The twins exchanged a glance.

"All the other couples called us brats, so I guess you aren't that bad," Lex answered with a shrug, not meeting Danny's gaze.

"You're more like a little demon," Dash said, smirking as Lex scowled.

Danny smacked Dash's leg while glaring at him. "Let's go fill out the paper work," he suggested as he stood.

"You're leaving already?" Xander questioned with lower lip protruding in a pout. His little fist held onto Danny's pant leg, afraid if he let them leave, they wouldn't come back.

"We have boring adult paper work to fill out before we can take you home with us," Danny explained to the boy. He patted the boy on the head, and Xander reluctantly released the pant leg. Holding hands, the two adults left the room.

"Do you think they'll really come back for us?" Xander asked his brother.

Lex frowned for a moment before forcing a smile onto his face. "Of course they'll come back. Now let's find Kuma's arm so that guy can fix him."

* * *

"Do you think they're happy with us?" Danny questioned, lying curled up beside Dash in their bed. Dash was reviewing the menu items and making a list of supplies he needed to order while Danny traced lazy patterns upon his bare chest. Lex and Xander had moved in with them a week ago. Danny sowed the arm back onto Xander's teddy bear, which had made the boy extremely happy. But Lex would never smile at him or laugh when they were watching cartoons on television together.

"Danny, you've been a wonderful father to them so far. Why wouldn't they be happy?" Dash sighed as he set his papers aside. "Didn't Xander help you make cookies yesterday?"

"Yeah, but Lex seems to hate me," Danny replied sadly. "When I asked if he wanted to help, he only snorted and went back to their room."

"He just needs to get used to us. It's not easy for him. For a long time, he's had to look after and protect his younger brother. Now with us in the picture, we've taken over the job of caring and protecting them. Give him some time, and he'll start to warm up to us."

"But he likes you," Danny muttered.

"We just rough house with each other and throw insulting words at each other. He asked me to teach him some football moves."

Snorting, Danny rolled his eyes. "How did I know that kid was going to want to play sports? He's like a miniature you."

"Oh, and Xander doesn't have any similar qualities to you other than hair color?"

"He likes cooking. If he starts wanting to cook things other than cookies, you'll have to take over teaching him. My cooking expertise runs from cookies to microwavable goodies." A loud boom rumbled through the sky. "Sounds like a bad storm is coming."

The door to their bedroom creaked open. Danny sat up when he saw Xander peeking into the room. A moment later, the door open wider, and Lex pushed his twin farther into the room. Xander backed into his brother, holding his teddy bear tightly to his chest.

"Is something wrong? Nightmares?" Danny questioned in a concerned tone.

"Xander's afraid of the thunder," Lex explained when his twin didn't respond.

"Oh," Danny said, nodding in understanding. He remembered sneaking into his parents' room when he was little because of storms. "Do you want to sleep in our bed tonight?"

Xander hesitated before crawling into the king-sized bed. Dash and Danny scooted apart so the little boy could curl up between them. Danny remained sitting up, watching the blond boy fidget nervously in the doorway.

"Lex, that invitation wasn't only Xander," Danny said.

Lex glanced around the room, fighting back a blush too embarrassed to admit the thunder scared him a little too. He slowly walked over to the bed. Climbing onto it, he crawled into the space between Danny and his brother and dropped his head onto the pillow. A smile tugged at Danny's mouth as he pulled the covers over the four occupants of the bed. Once Danny was lying down again, Lex snuggled against him, nestling his head into the crook of the man's neck. Brushing the blond bangs aside, Danny placed a kiss to the boy's forehead. Dash leaned back and flipped off the light. They fell asleep to the sound of the rain beating against the brick wall and the thunder rumbling in the distance.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 07**

Danny pulled the cookie sheet from the oven, kicking the door shut as he set the sheet out to cool. He glanced at the clock. _The kids should be out of school by now, so they'll be getting home from school any moment_, Danny thought as he opened the refrigerator to grab some sodas for the kids. As he was scraping off the last of the cookies from the sheets, the front door opened.

"Hey, kids, I just finished baking some cookies," Danny called from the kitchen.

"You're the best, Uncle D," Sandra said, stealing a cookie as she entered the kitchen.

"So, how was your first day at high school?" Danny questioned turning to face the teenager and preteen. "Wait. Where are Lex and Xander?"

"Oh, um," Sandra said, biting her lip as she looked away.

"They got detention," Danielle stated and grabbed a cookie from the plate.

"Detention?" Danny exclaimed. "How could they have gotten detention on the first day of high school? What did they do?"

"I - I don't know all the details," Sandra mumbled. "But Lex got in a fight with another boy. Xander stayed after with him."

"A fight?" Danny frowned, puzzled by his son's actions. "But he never gets into fights." He ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out what could have caused Lex to fight with another boy. "Come on," Danny said with a sigh. "Let's go down to the school and see what happened."

"Can't we stay here?" Danielle pleaded, putting on her cute little pout.

"No, I have to watch over you, and I'm not going to leave you two here alone." Danny grabbed his keys and headed to the door.

"Oh, come on, Uncle D! We're old enough to take care of ourselves," Sandra complained.

"Yeah, and the last time I left you alone, I was searching the neighborhood for three hours to find you," Danny shouted as he opened the door. "Do you know how pissed your parents would be if I told them about that?"

"We only went down to the arcade. And Lex and Xander went with us," Danielle said.

"And I grounded them for two weeks. None of you thought to at least leave a note? I was worried sick about the four of you." Danny ushered them out the door. "Your parents trust me to take care of you. I trusted you to stay in the apartment, and you broke that trust." The three of them walked out of the apartment complex. "So from now on, you aren't going anywhere without me and I'm not leaving you here alone. Now get in the car," Danny ordered as he unlocked the car doors.

"This isn't fair, Uncle D," Sandra whined, slumping into the front seat.

"You should have thought of that before leaving the apartment when I told you to stay there while I went to grab some groceries to make a cake for Dash's birthday."

The rest of the ride was silent. Sandra pouted in her seat, angry with Danny's unfair treatment while Danielle pulled out her Game Guy and started playing the latest videogame her parents bought her. Once they got to the high school, Danny parked the car in front of the bus stop where Lex and Xander were waiting for the next bus to come.

"You two stay in here," Danny ordered as he got out and slammed the door shut behind him. He stomped over to the two boys. "A fight?" he shouted at them, glaring at the two boys. He spotted a few bruises on both them. Lex had the worst of it with a swollen black eye.

"I'm sorry," Lex mumbled, not meeting Danny's gaze.

"It's the first day of school, and you got into a fight. You've never gotten into fights before. Explain to me what happened." Danny put his hands on his hips, tapping his foot as he waited for an explanation.

"It's my fault, Dad," Xander said, giving his father his teary eyed look.

"How is it your fault?" Danny demanded. He kept his glare focused on the elder twin. Xander's teary-eyed look always made Danny's anger evaporate.

"I-" Xander started to speak but paused as a frown settled on his face. "The teacher told us to introduce ourselves to the class. And they wanted us to talk about our families too. So I told them I had two dads." He dropped his gaze to the ground. "The other kids started making fun of me and saying that my family was sick."

"The teachers wouldn't stop them," Lex stated, turning his glare up to Danny. "The other kids were teasing Xan, and a couple of them," Lex paused, shaking his head. "They cornered Xan in the locker room and started pushing him around. I was afraid he would really hurt Xan. So excuse me if I wanted to protect my brother! I didn't want to see him get hurt."

Danny's mouth dropped open as he turned to look at his other son. Xander ducked his head. "Is that really what happened?" Danny questioned, his anger fading into regret. He had never stopped to think how his relationship with Dash might affect their children's lives. It had never been a problem before so he hadn't thought it would become a problem later. He forgot how cruel teenagers could be in high school. He crouched in front of Xander and looked his son over. Xander only had a few cuts and bruises, but he didn't look too seriously injured. "Did they touch you inappropriately?" he whispered, almost afraid of how his son would answer.

"No," Xander mumbled, shaking his head. He hugged his body like he was holding his old teddy bear Kuma that he still slept with on rare occasions. He glanced at his brother before looking toward Danny again. "Is homosexuality really a bad thing?"

"No, of course it isn't," Danny said as he moved to sit between the twins. "There are people in the world who think homosexuality is wrong, but that doesn't mean it is." He pinched the back of Lex's neck. "You can't go around beating up every person who doesn't like homosexuality. There are better ways to deal with those situations than using your fists."

"But the teachers wouldn't listen," Lex complained. "We told them the other kids were making fun of us, but they just ignored us."

"Starting fights isn't the way to deal with bullies. I used to get bullied a lot in high school. And do you know who bullied me?" Danny questioned but only received blank looks from the two boys. "Dash. He would beat me up at least once a day. Sometimes he would take my clothes and leave them in the shower so I would have to spend the rest of the day in the school's gym uniform. I hated him for years because of all the times he picked on me."

"And yet now you're madly in love with the guy who kicked your ass throughout high school. How did that happen?" Lex questioned, rolling his eyes.

"We met again after some time had passed. He changed. I changed. But that wasn't the point I was going to make." Danny sighed, running a hand through his hand. "The point was that even through all the times he kicked my ass, I never went around and picked fights with him." _Oh, I had my ways of getting back at him, but they don't need to know about that_, Danny thought, forcing back a smirk.

"That's because Dash can kick your ass." Lex grinned until Danny smacked him on the back of the head.

"Just because you can beat the shit out of someone doesn't mean you should. Yeah, I wouldn't mind beating that kid up if he had laid a hand on Xander, but that's not the way to deal with this. Dash and I will make an appointment and talk with the principal about what happened."

"Uncle D, can't you yell at them at home?" Sandra called from the car.

"Sandra, stole my Game Guy," Danielle shouted.

"Those two," Danny muttered, rolling his eyes. "Lex, you're grounded for a week for fighting." The three got up and walked back to the car.

"Why did you get into a fight, Lex?" Sandra questioned, turning around to look at the blond boy.

"We're not going to talk about this," Danny stated. He grabbed the Game Guy from Sandra's hands and dumped it into the side pocket of the car door.

A tense silence hung in the car on the way back to the apartment complex. Danny wasn't entirely sure how to deal with this new development. Talking to the principal wasn't going to put an end to incidents like this. He had no way to protect his children from bullies, and it was his fault for being gay that caused what happened.

Once they got back to the apartment, Danny sent Lex to his room. Danielle and Sandra sat in the living room, doing their homework until their parents came to pick them up.

"Dad," Xander whispered as he stirred the stew for supper. Danny looked up from his laptop to show he had heard his son. "I - it - It really scared me when they surrounded me."

Danny stood from his seat at the kitchen table and crossed the room. He pulled the boy into his arms. Xander buried his face into Danny's chest. The tears started flowing, and Xander couldn't stop them. He had been holding his emotions in ever since the other boys cornered him in the locker room. He didn't want to think of what might have happened if Lex hadn't been there to step in to stop them.

"I'm home," Dash called as he opened the door to their apartment. He walked into the kitchen, the wonderful aroma of stew invading his senses. When he saw the two raven haired males embracing each other with one sobbing, Dash frowned. "What happened?"

"There was an accident at school," Danny said, wanting to talk about the details with Dash alone. "Xander, why don't you go wash up, okay? And tell Lex that dinner's almost ready." Xander nodded, wiping the tears from his face, as he left the room.

"Are you going to explain to me what happened now?" Dash questioned, folding his arms over his chest.

"Xander's teacher had them introduce themselves in class. So he told them he had two dads. The other kids were making fun them." Danny paused, his throat constricting and making it hard to swallow. "Some boys decided to take it past simple teasing and tried to gang up on Xander in the boys' locker room, so Lex started a fight with them."

"How dare they touch my son!" Dash shouted in a rage.

"Dash, keep your voice down," Danny hissed at him. "I'm pissed about this too, you know." He sighed and leaned back against the refrigerator. "And Lex stopped them before they could do anything to Xander." The thought that the other boys might have done something worse made Danny shake with fear and anger. He wouldn't forgive anyone that hurt his sons. He had to take a deep breath to calm his emotions. "I told them we would talk with the principal, but that's not going to stop the students from bullying our boys. I can't stand the thought of them going to school every day and being harassed because of what we are. I knew something like this might happen. I said so when we first started talking about adopting a child. But I was kind of hoping-"

"That we would be lucky, and they wouldn't have to deal with close-minded people?" Dash finished as he walked over to the stove and stirred the stew. "Looks like Xander's getting better at cooking."

"Yeah, he's been looking through some of your cook books. Maybe he'll be a world famous chef." Danny grinned.

"They're going to have to deal with the harassment at some point, Danny," Dash stated. "As much as I don't want them to have to go through that, I know we can't protect them from it forever. But if anyone lays a hand on Xan in an indecent way without his consent, I will find that person and hurt them for it."

"Dash, I just told Lex he can't go around beating people up," Danny stated flatly. "Maybe we should think about letting Xander learn self-defense like karate or something."

"That might actually be a good idea." Dash placed a hand on the small of Danny's back and pulled the other man closer. He kissed his lover tenderly before turning his attention back to the stew. "But if we let Xander, Lex will want to take it too."

"That's okay. Maybe he'll learn to control his rage. I know he doesn't get into fights, but he does have a slight violent streak in him."

"I'm not blind, love. I may be out for most of the day, but I've still seen him when he's angry."

Xander and Lex walked into the kitchen and grabbed the dishes to set out on the table. Lex looked tense and angry as the plates shook in his hands. He was still upset about what happened. Xander, on the other hand, had a solemn expression on his face. After crying, he had buried the emotions inside.

"Hey, how do you two feel about taking karate lessons?" Danny questioned, leaving Dash's side. The boys stopped and looked at the man with surprised expressions.

"You would let us do that?" Lex asked, almost disbelieving his ears.

"Yes, but lessons would start after the end of grounding," Danny answered. The twins grinned at each other before latching onto the man. Danny laughed, smiling toward Dash.

"Dinner's ready," Dash announced, pulling the pot off the burner. The boys released their hold and grabbed their plates off the table. Then they lined up behind Dash, waiting to be served.

* * *

"Why did you call me out here?" Xander asked nervously as he walked over to the other boy. He recognized him from the fight in the boy's locker room.

"The principal had a meeting with my parents about what happened," the boy explained with his hands in his pockets and shoulders hunched. "I got into a lot of trouble." He lowered his gaze, staring at his shoes. "I didn't – I wasn't trying to hurt you. I don't care about your parents being… you know…" He glanced up briefly at Xander. "I was trying to help. Those other guys," he shook his head. "They're a bunch of idiots. I heard them talking about ganging up on you in the locker room, and it made me sick. I stepped in to try and stop them."

Xander frowned, hugging his arms around him. The incident in the locker room had happened only three days ago, and he still felt uncomfortable talking about it outside the family. The other students still teased him about it. Everything about the fight had happened so fast. He couldn't remember this boy's role in it. "I don't know if I believe that."

"I understand." The boy frowned, looking like it really hurt him that Xander couldn't believe him. "I really am sorry about what happened. I just - If we could, I'd like to start over. I'm Elden Reed." He stuck out his hand.

"Uh, Xander Rutherford." He shook the other boy's hand, feeling a little awkward about it. Lifting his gaze, Xander finally looked at the other boy.

Elden had long red hair tied back in a low pony tail. His black bangs framed the sharp angles of his face. The coloring was obviously not natural, and Xander briefly wondered what his natural hair color was. Xander's indigo eyes met with the other boy's icy eyes. They were a pale gray bordering on silver and seemed odd on the boy.

"I would apologize for what happened to your brother, but I think he might try to beat me up," Elden said, chuckling awkwardly.

"My brother's _not_ a bully," Xander said defensively, but his expression soon crumbled. "I don't think he would forgive you though. He's pretty angry at everyone involved in that fight."

"I'm trying out for track next week. Would you like to come and watch?" Elden gave the other boy a hopeful look.

"I can't. My brother's trying out for football, and I promised to watch him." Xander bit his lip when he saw the disappointed look. "I'll… um… I'll be rooting for you though." He let a shy smile cross his face.

"Really?" Elden's face lit up at the other boy's statement. "Do you think we could like hang out over the weekend?"

"Maybe. It depends on whether I get my homework done or not. My dads won't let me do anything until I finish all of my homework."

"Oh, yeah, my parents hate when I don't finish all of my homework before going out." Elden searched his pockets for a moment and found a pen and some paper. He quickly wrote something onto the paper and handed it to Xander. "Call me if you're free. I'd call you, but I don't think your brother would like that."

Xander chuckled as he tucked the number into his pocket. He glanced at his watch. "Oh, I need to go, or I'll miss the bus."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow in class." Elden waved as he walked around the school toward the parking lot. Xander turned, heading for the bus stop. Elden had turned out to be a rather nice boy. When he reached the bus stop, Xander flopped onto the bench next to his brother.

"Where were you?" Lex questioned, eying his brother suspiciously.

"Talking with a classmate," Xander answered with a shrug. "He wanted to know if I could help him with some of our homework because he didn't understand it."

"And then what?"

"Nothing. I told him I didn't really understand it either." Xander leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Are there anymore cookies left over from yesterday?"

"Sandra and Danielle probably ate them all."

"We did not!" Sandra exclaimed, outraged by the accusation.

"You're going to get fat if you keep pigging out on our dad's cookies," Xander said with a small chuckle.

"I can't help it if Uncle D makes great cookies." Sandra sniffed and decided to ignore the boys.

Xander sighed resting his head in his hands. He felt bad about lying to his brother. He never lied to his brother. But he wanted to give Elden a chance to prove he wasn't the jerk Xander thought he was on first impression. He just hoped this decision wouldn't blow up in his face.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 08**

Xander sat at one of the long tables in the lunch room, feeling rather awkward squashed between two girls from his grade. Two months had passed since the start of school. The other boys still teased Xander whenever he wasn't walking the halls with Lex. The girls, a large group of them, pounced on him the first chance they got. They dragged him away from Lex and forced him to sit with them at lunch. Then they would talk about the usual girl things: make-up, clothes, shoes, shopping, and boys.

Bernice, a dark skinned girl with badly dyed blonde hair, once asked Xander if he had ever walked in on his parents having sex. Courtney, a dark haired girl with piercing blue eyes, wanted to know if he had ever thought about kissing other boys. Xander hated the questions. He sank into his seat, shoulders hunching together, as the girls' eyes bored into him, waiting for him to answer. He couldn't understand why they were so interested such private details of his life.

"So, Xandy-poo," Bernice said, making Xander wince. He hated that name! "What type of girls does your brother like?"

"I'm… not sure," Xander whispered, pushing around what was left of the salad in his Tupperware container. Dash had gone to work early so Danny had to make the boys' lunches. Despite his best efforts, the food wasn't as good as when Dash made it.

"Lex is the kind of guy who goes after anything on two legs with boobs," Courtney said with a roll of her blue eyes.

Xander felt offended by that comment even though it was close to the truth. He had witnessed Lex flirting with many of the girls from their grade and getting shot down by almost all of them.

"Unless, of course, you're Denise," Bernice added, and the two girls laughed.

Xander frowned as he glanced toward Denise. The girl wasn't exactly the prettiest one with her dull brown hair tied up in a bun and black wire-framed glasses, but she did have these amazing emerald green eyes. She was nice and smart and had an inquisitive nature. Sometimes she would ask questions about Xander's parents, but she was always careful to not make Xander uncomfortable.

Denise loved books and read whenever she got the opportunity during school. She had recommended a couple of cookbooks to Xander. On a few occasions, Xander caught Lex discussing books with Denise. Packing up the Tupperware, Xander started to stand until Courtney and Bernice forced him to sit again.

"We weren't finished talking," Bernice told him, none too nicely.

"I have to go to my locker," Xander said quickly and rushed out of the lunch room before the girls could sink their claws into him again. A sigh of relief escaped him as he walked through the hallways. He didn't know how he was going to survive four years with those girls. By the time he reached his locker, Xander found Lex already standing there.

"So all the guys want to know why all the girls in our grade flock to you," Lex said as Xander spun the combination lock.

"It's not like I enjoy it," Xander muttered, throwing the locker open.

"Why not? Most guys would love to have all those girls around them."

"Except that they don't treat me like a guy." Xander sighed and tossed the Tupperware into the locker. "They talk to me like I'm one of them. Courtney asked me what my dream guy was like yesterday."

Lex burst into laughter. "So that's the reason! They think you're gay!" Lex bit his tongue when Xander glared at him. "Wait! Are you?" He grabbed his brother's arm and turned him so their eyes met.

"I don't know. I haven't really been attracted to anyone yet," Xander snapped. "But if I discover I have feelings toward another boy, you'll be the first person I tell." He patted his brother's head before returning his attention to his locker.

"Good. I thought you might be hiding things from me for a moment there."

"I think Bernice likes you," Xander stated offhandedly. "She's always asking about what kind of girls you like."

"Ew! I'd rather date Denise," Lex said with a shudder. "At least with Denise, I would be able to have interesting conversations."

"And here I thought the girls might be right about you." Xander snickered, and Lex punched him in the side. "I think you and Denise make a good couple."

"We already agreed to be just friends. Sorry to burst your bubble."

"I'm wound- oh crap!" Xander exclaimed, making his brother raise a brow. He reached into the back of the locker and pulled out a book. "Overdue library book. I gotta go return it. See you after school." Xander slammed the locker shut and took off jogging down the hallway. Lex watched his brother go, shaking his head with an amused smirk.

Slipping into the library, Xander dropped off the book at the front desk. He felt like kicking himself for having forgotten about the book. As he paid the late fee, someone pinched his side. Xander jerked away, banging his hip into the counter.

"You okay, Xan?" the other boy asked.

"Yeah, fin-" Xander blinked wide eyes, mouth hanging open. "What happened to your hair?"

"Oh, my dad hated my long hair," Elden said with a small chuckle. He caught the librarian glaring at them disapprovingly, so he dragged Xander farther into the library and out of sight of the librarian. Xander gave him an odd look, but Elden ignored it. "So when I went to sleep last night, my dad snuck into my room and chopped off my lovely red locks." Elden sniffed dramatically.

"The short hair doesn't look that bad though. I like it." Xander grinned, combing his fingers through short red strands.

"But it ruins my whole rocker motif," Elden argued with a playful pout. "The guys in the band laughed when they saw it."

"Well, that lock standing up at an odd angle doesn't really help." Xander tried to flatten the lock, but it wouldn't lie in place. "Band? You're in a band? What instrument do you play?"

"I'm the singer." Elden grinned proudly. "Hey, you should come hear us sometime. We're playing tonight."

"Well, my brother doesn't have a football game tonight," Xander mumbled, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "All right, but you have to pick me up."

"Fine, but you have to wait outside because I am _not_ risking running into your brother." Elden shuddered at the thought of getting beaten up by the blond twin. Xander rolled his eyes as he headed toward the exit of the library with Elden following him.

* * *

"My brother just told me he thinks Bernice has a crush on me," Lex whispered to Denise as he sat beside her in their English class. "And when I told him I would rather date you instead of her, he said he thought we made a good couple."

"You and Bernice?" Denise chewed on the eraser on her pencil as she pictured the two together. "No, you two don't match up well."

"Well, Bernice doesn't seem to care that a lot of the other students think she's a slut." Lex shuddered again at the idea of him dating Bernice. "Now Jessica! There's a girl I would happily date, but she shot me down last time I asked her out."

"That's because she has a crush on Clint 'the Super Hunk' O'Brien," Denise responded with a roll of her eyes.

"But he's a senior!" Lex exclaimed. "He would never go out with a freshman!"

"Jessica seems to believe she has a good chance at getting him to say yes." Denise shrugged. They were silent for a moment before Denise's eyes lit up with an idea. "You don't have a football game tonight, right?" Lex nodded in response. "Great! We should hang out tonight. I know the guys in a band that are playing tonight. It'll be fun!"

"You're not asking me out, are you?" Lex questioned, leaning the aisle to whisper to the girl. "Because we said we would only be friends."

"Oh, no, no, no, this is just as friends," Denise replied, shaking her head. "Friends hang out outside of school, you know."

"What are you two whispering about?" Sandra asked as she poked Lex from his other side.

"Ask her if she wants to come too," Denise whispered to Lex.

"Do you want go see a band play tonight?" Lex asked, turning toward Sandra.

"That sounds like fun! We can ask Xander and Danielle to come too," Sandra responded excitedly.

"If you three are done talking, I would like to start class," their English teacher announced from the front of the room. Sandra snapped her attention to the front of the room while Lex and Denise buried their heads in the books lying open on their desks.

* * *

"How come you came home early?" Danny asked as he massaged Dash's tensed shoulders.

"The guys at work demanded I take the rest of the day off because I've been working too hard lately," Dash mumbled, sounding depressed. "I do trust my staff not to mess up. I really do."

"No, you don't," Danny said, speaking the truth that lay beneath Dash's denial. "You're expecting them to mess up and call you to save their asses for the millionth time." He dropped onto Dash's back, wrapping his arms around the other man's body. "Would it make you feel better if I asked you to make me something fancy for lunch?"

"No, I just want to be lazy right now," Dash mumbled. He rolled onto his back, Danny remaining half on top of him. "Then again," he said, a smirk crossing his face. "I can think of something we could do right now. The kids aren't home. They don't get back for another few hours." He pulled Danny's head closer, and their lips met in a slow tender kiss. The doorbell echoed through the apartment. Danny leaped off the couch, heading for the door. "Just send them away," Dash said with a groan.

"He came!" Danny shouted after looking through the peephole. He threw the door open and pulled the man into a hug.

Dash sat up quickly, eye twitching. "Who came?" he asked trying not to sound angry with his lover hugging another man, despite the fact that the man looked old enough to be Danny's father.

"Vlad," Danny answered simply, pulling away to reveal the elder half ghost.

"What is he doing here?" Dash's eyes narrowed at the man. Danny had told him stories of the battles he fought against this man.

"Because I invited him to come here." Danny rolled his eyes like Dash asked him if the sky was blue. He ushered the elder half ghost into the apartment, guiding him to the chair near the couch.

"So this is the man you decided to spend the rest of your life with," Vlad said as he looked over Dash. "He doesn't beat you, does he?"

"I am not abusive!" Dash shouted, outraged by the man's assumption.

"Vlad! I didn't ask you over here to start I fight with the man I love," Danny snapped, glaring at the other half ghost.

"Right. Well, he wasn't really supposed to be here anyway." Vlad shrugged, his gaze taking on a bored look.

"Why were you planning to meet him alone?" Dash turned his attention back to his lover.

"But since he is here," Vlad said, ignoring the fact that Dash had spoken. "I should give this to him." Vlad reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. He handed it to the man, making sure to keep it out of Danny's reach. Dash took it and peeked inside, his eyes growing wide.

"You're giving us this much money?" Dash questioned dumbfounded.

"I did miss your 'wedding,' and I haven't seen you since then," Vlad responded with another shrug.

"Vlad, we don't need the money," Danny argued. "We make enough money by ourselves."

"A word," Dash whispered, tugging on his lover's arm. "We could actually move into a house with this money. Or we could put it in the bank for the boys' college funds."

"But," Danny said with a sigh, "I don't feel right taking money from him."

"I don't understand why you're making such a big deal out of this, Daniel," Vlad said, leaning back in the chair. "It's just a present from godfather to godson. Why won't accept my generous offer?"

"Because it's too generous," Danny complained. "A million dollars is too much money."

"Wait! Godfather and godson? When did that happen?" Dash asked, his brow rising in shock.

"Well, technically, ever since Daniel was born," Vlad answered. "I don't have any use for all the money I have. I never fell in love with anyone other than Maddie, so I don't have my own children. So I decided I want to spoil you and your family with my money."

"You never told me he was your godfather," Dash said, looking slightly hurt at the secrecy.

"I didn't think it mattered all that much," Danny stated with a frown. "But anyway, after all the fighting ended, Vlad became like a second father to me. He taught me how to control my powers, and I became stronger because of his teachings."

"Could we get back to the original reason for my presence here today?" Vlad questioned, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the chair.

"Right. I felt the presence of a ghost the other day," Danny started.

"Please don't tell me you called me down here because you can't beat it on your own," Vlad said, looking somewhat disgusted with the idea that Danny still wasn't nearly as strong as himself.

"No, I didn't even fight the ghost yet!" Danny sighed in exasperation as he slumped back into the couch. "After sensing it, I searched around for about an hour, but I couldn't find it anywhere."

"You called me down here because of ghost that you couldn't even find?" Vlad shouted, finally showing an emotion other than utter boredom.

"I figured we could find it faster if both of us searched for it."

"Well, since you are my godson, I guess I really should help you," Vlad mumbled with a tired sigh. "I'll let you know if I find the ghost." Vlad stood, and Danny walked him to the door, thanking him for agreeing to help.

"So you tell me about how much of a bastard that guy is," Dash started once the elder half ghost had left, "but you don't tell me that he's your godfather." Danny returned to Dash's side, leaning his head on his lover's shoulder. "And you wouldn't accept the money he offered?"

"I'm sorry." Danny sighed as he curled up against his lover's side. "I didn't think it was that important. And I didn't want to accept that much money. A million dollars? It's too much to just hand over to another person."

"But he wanted you to have it," Dash argued. "And you said that Vlad became like a second father to you, right? Well, I bet Vlad thinks of you as the son he never had and wants to make up for all the problems he caused. So we're going to accept the money and use it to buy a house and put the rest in the bank for the boys' college fund."

"We don't need to buy a house," Danny muttered, not liking the idea of cleaning a place much bigger than their apartment.

"Oh, I think we will need to buy one at some point. Do you really think the boys are going to want to share a room until college? They're eventually going to want their own rooms, and we can't give that to them with this apartment."

"Fine," Danny said with a long sigh. "We can look into buying a house. Are you coming ghost hunting with me tonight?"

"What about the boys?" Dash's questioned received a groan from his lover as Danny flopped over to lay across Dash's lap. "Do you think we can leave them alone for a while?" Danny groaned again as he buried his face into the leather of their couch. "I guess I'm babysitting tonight," Dash mumbled, rubbing his lover's back. The phone rang. Dash leaned over and picked up the phone. "Hello," Dash said into the receiver.

"Hey, Dad," Lex said from the other end of the line. "I was wondering if it was all right if I could go see a band play tonight. Sandra and Danielle are going too. We're going to hang out with Denise after school."

"Okay. What about Xander?"

"He said he made plans with Courtney and Bernice, but he would come home first. I don't know why he would want to hang out with those two," Lex muttered the last part.

"All right. You can go but be back before curfew," Dash said before hanging up the phone.

"What's going on?" Danny mumbled, from his position faced down on the couch.

"Lex is going to see a band with Sandra, Danielle, and Denise. Xander has plans with Courtney and Bernice," Dash answered as he pushed Danny's body off him.

"Our sons don't have any friends that are guys?" Danny stretched, walking toward the kitchen for a snack. Dash rolled his eyes as he followed Danny.

"Yeah, but I guess this frees me up to go ghost hunting with you," Dash said, getting a grin out of his lover.

When evening came, Dash and Danny left their apartment and took to strolling the streets, waiting for any signs of a ghost. Danny sighed as he closed his cell phone and tucked it back into his pocket.

"Well, Vlad hasn't found anything yet," Danny said with a sigh. "When is this stupid ghost going to show up?" A growl of frustration rumbled in his throat as he glared around, alert for a ghost attack.

"What's gotten into you?" Dash asked as he worriedly watched Danny. "You don't normally get this annoyed with ghosts." He thought on that comment for a brief moment. "Except that stupid Box Ghost." He rolled his eyes at the memories of the many encounters with that particular ghost.

"I don't know." Danny rubbed at his forehead. "Something about this situation has me on edge." He kicked a soda can up the street, relieving only a small portion of his built up frustrations. "I rarely run into a ghost that disappears as soon as I sense it. There's that, and I'm really tired right now." He sighed as he stopped walking. "Why don't you come out already? I want to get this over with and go home," he shouted into the night sky.

"Be patient. It'll come out sooner or later." Dash lifted his gaze to the sky above, almost expecting to see a ghost fly by, but all he saw were stars twinkling in the darkness. Then he was thrown to the ground as Danny tackled him. A blast missed them by inches.

"Finally," Danny muttered, his weight lifting off Dash, who rolled onto his back in time to catch Danny changing into a ghost.

Dash climbed to his feet and watched the fight, which wasn't the most impressive thing. The female ghost looked weak, and Danny easily dodged her fiery attacks. After going intangible and letting another attack pass right through him, Danny fired back, nailing the ghost. He smirked cockily as the ghost shrieked after taking the ecto blast to her side.

"Stop playing around," Dash called. He felt tired too and wanted to finish this up quickly so that they could go home and relax.

Danny turned and frowned down at him. "I'm not playing," he grumbled, almost pouting at the accusation.

The small distraction gave the ghost time to recover from the blast. She zoomed at Danny while his attention was focused elsewhere. He had barely a second to erect a barrier around him, but his reaction was slow. Dash shouted as he watched the ghost's arms catch Danny around the waist. They hurtled to the ground, landing with a forceful thud that made Danny gasp.

"Danny!" Dash rushed toward him but drew up short when he noticed the other ghost was missing.

Danny curled up, hands clutching at his head. "Get out," he muttered with his eyes clamped shut. He dealt with possessions before, practiced what to do with Vlad. This ghost wasn't nearly even half as powerful as other ghosts that he faced, and he pushed at her to leave his body. He screamed as hot pain consumed him, like he was being drawn into an inferno. He lost his concentration in that moment.

"Danny?" Dash took a tentative step toward the other man. In all the times that he accompanied Danny when he hunted ghosts, Dash never saw something like this happen. He jumped back when Danny suddenly gasped, his eyes snapping open. Worry washed over him like a bucket of cold water when he stared at the eerie red eyes staring up at him. The cruel smirk looked completely unnatural on Danny's face.

"Time to say goodbye!" The voice didn't even sound like Danny.

Dash managed to dodge the red blast that flew at him, though it was mostly due to the cold weight forcing him to the ground. When he looked again, Danny was gone. "What was that?" he whispered, to stunned to form any kind of thoughts. That cold feeling wrapped around his hand, making him jump. He looked to his right but saw nothing. "Is that you, Danny?" The coldness squeezed around Dash's hand then his arm moved up and down on his own. Dash stared, his mind numb. "This can't be good," he mumbled and reached for his phone. He dialed Vlad's number, glad that Danny had given it to him before they left the apartment.

* * *

"You guys are amazing!" Xander said as Elden sat beside him in the booth.

"Well, I try," Elden responded with a shrug, trying to look nonchalant at the praise. "Our drummer, Ishida, wrote most of our songs." He glanced around the club before turning back to Xander. "I think your brother has a different opinion of my band, but maybe it's just me he hates."

"What?" Xander nearly shouted, shrinking in the booth like it might open up and swallow him. "Lex is here?"

"Yeah, he's sitting across the room from us," Elden answered, smirking at the other boy's reaction.

"If he finds out I came here, he's going to kill me." Xander released a small whimper as his eyes revealed the panic he felt inside him at that moment.

"I think he already knows you're here." Elden frowned when Xander bent over and tried to hide under the table. "He already saw you. He's coming this way right now. Stop hiding already!"

"Xander!" Lex shouted as he slammed his hands onto the table, making his twin flinch. "What are you doing here with him?" He pointed toward Elden and nearly poked the boy in the eye.

"I came to hear them play," Xander answered in a quiet voice.

"And you had to sneak around to do that? The rest of us came here to hear them too. You lied to me!' Lex looked hurt by that fact. "And you're hanging out with one of the guys that tried to hurt you." His voice rose in volume, catching the attention of other patrons in the club.

"Lex, he apologized for that. And he wasn't trying to hurt me. Stop making a big deal out of it." Xander looked pleadingly toward Sandra and Denise to help him.

"Maybe we should talk outside," Sandra suggested after glancing nervously around the club.

"I think that's a good idea," Elden agreed as he slid out of the booth. Xander climbed out after him, and Lex immediately grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the club. The other four followed the twins outside into the cool night.

"So explain to me why you had to lie so that you could hang out with that guy," Lex demanded, his grip tightening around Xander's arm.

"Because I knew you would act like an ass about it," Xander shouted. Then he winced when he saw the anger flash in his brother's eyes. "He already apologized for what happened. And I forgave him. Why can't you?"

"Why would you want to hang out with someone like him?"

"Because he's the only guy who isn't constantly teasing me about our parents being gay. And I'm sick of only having those idiot girls as so-called friends. Elden's a nice guy, and we have stuff in common. And he was trying to stop those other guys, just like you were." Xander stared at his brother with his pleading, puppy dog eyes.

Frowning, Lex turned to Elden. He walked up to the other boy and slammed him against the wall, making Xander gasp with fear. "I'm going to allow you one chance. If you hurt my brother, I will dig out your kidney with a wooden spoon," Lex growled dangerously.

Elden nodded vigorously in understanding. "I promise I'm not going to hurt him," he said, holding his hands up in the gesture of surrender.

"Hey, you guys," Danielle said, getting the attention of her friends. "Isn't that Uncle D?"

Everyone's gaze followed where Danielle pointed and stared at the man storming toward them. None of them could deny that the man looked exactly like Danny, but something about him seemed off. As he neared them, the look in Danny's eyes made Xander feel cold as panic took hold of him. Lex pushed his twin behind him, acting as the protective older brother as usual.

"He doesn't look very happy," Sandra mumbled, frightened to see that expression on Danny's face.

"You three should go home," Lex told the three girls. He couldn't think of anything they might have done to upset their father. They got permission from him to come to the club to listen to the band. Though Xander had lied about it, Lex couldn't think of how Danny might have found out. The three girls nodded and headed off down the street, worried about their friends.

"You should go too," Xander mumbled to Elden as he watched fearfully as their father approached. Elden frowned at the twins, but he did as Xander wished and walked back into the club to get a ride with his band mates.

Lex didn't move from his position in front of his brother as Danny stopped, looming over them. Danny glared down at them with murderous look in his eerily glowing red eyes. Lex held his breath at that look. What happened to their father? No matter how angry Danny got, he never had a look like that in his eyes.

"Da-" Lex was choked off when Danny grabbed him by the throat, faster than he could react. Their father's face twisted further with rage as his hand squeezed tighter. Lex gasped, clawing at the hand.

"Dad!" Xander shouted and tried to help Lex break free from the hold on his throat. "Stop! What's gotten into you?"

Danny snapped his head around and the red glare landed on Xander, who stumbled away from him. When Danny released his hold on his throat, Lex collapsed to his knees, coughing as he rubbed at his sore and bruised throat. "You," Danny whispered in that creepy voice that didn't belong to him. Xander squeaked as his father towered over him. Terror kept him frozen to the spot, and he only managed a strangle yelp before the hands seized his throat and yanked him forward. "You were the worst."

Cold breath washed over Xander's ear, but the whispered words made his heart stop. Tears gathered in his eyes as the hands tightened on his throat.

"Let - Let him go!" Lex ordered, though it didn't sound very threatening as he gasped for breath. He got to his feet and tried to shove Danny away from his brother, but the hands refused to leave, digging nails into the tender flesh of the raven haired teenager. His teeth ground together as hate and anger coiled inside him. Lex actually deluded himself into believing that they had a happy family, that they would never be hurt again. He always believed Danny would always be there to care for them because he never raised a hand to them like other people that looked into adopting them.

A cruel grin flashed on Danny's face as he glanced Lex's way. "You both were never anything but trouble. A horrible burden." The words cut into both twins. "You should have died."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 09**

Anger welled up in him stronger than ever. Lex growled as his hand closed into a fist. Beside him, Xander gasped, lungs burning for air that could barely make it through his constricted windpipe. Lex no longer recognized this man as his father. He almost didn't want to believe that this was really Danny standing before them, spewing hateful words while trying to strangle his brother. His fist pulled back, and he slammed it forward into the man's stomach. Danny released Xander as he stumbled back with a sharp gasp. Lex immediately caught his brother, holding Xander close to him.

"You little brat!" Danny shouted, and the fear grew stronger in the twins as they saw the red flames dancing in Danny's hand. That _wasn't_ something a normal person could do.

"What have you done with our father?" Xander asked in a quiet, timid voice.

"That scumbag?" Danny sneered at them, his lip curling in a vicious expression. "He ran out the moment he discovered I was pregnant. I should have known I couldn't trust that lousy excuse for a man."

Neither twin could move as the flames flew toward them. Coldness wrapped around them suddenly, and they watched in silent fear and awe as the flames danced over the barely visible green barrier protecting them.

"What was that?" Lex managed to ask after a moment of shock.

"Dad!" Xander shouted, his arm wrapping around the air before him.

Danny screamed in rage and pelted the barrier with more of the red fire, which still left Lex baffled. Then, before any of them realized what was happening, Dash appeared at Danny's side. His fist connected with the man's jaw, knocking Danny to the ground with enough force to knock him out. Every muscle in Dash's body was tense as he breathed heavily, anger flashing in his dark blue eyes. When he turned to the twins, relief chased away the anger.

"You're both safe!" Dash sighed as he walked over to them.

Lex immediately moved to stand before Xander as he glared at Dash. "I let my guard down because you both seemed really nice," he growled, and Dash flinched at the tone of voice. "But I knew if it was too good to be true, I shouldn't trust it. You're just like all the other couples. In the end, you hurt us like everyone else." He could see the words hurt Dash, but he didn't care. Someone that he thought they could trust had hurt them, and he wasn't going to allow it to happen again.

Dash looked around like he was searching for something. "Danny?" he asked with worry in his voice.

Lex's brow creased when he heard it. His gaze darted to the prone form of Danny, who hadn't moved since Dash punched him. Why was Dash calling for Danny? A gasp came from Xander as he reached around Lex to grab at something that was there. What was going on? Lex hadn't been able to understand anything since Danny first showed up. Dash frowned as he glanced to his right. When letters formed in the air out of what looked like ice, Lex's eyes bulged, not believing what he was seeing.

"We don't have time to stand around and explain everything," Dash said, taking command as he usually seemed to do. He walked over and lifted Danny's limp body into his arms. "Danny's in trouble, and if we don't hurry, we might not be able to save him. Follow me."

"Follow you?" Lex shouted like it was the most ridiculous request he had ever heard. "After he tried to kill us?" Dash didn't wait to listen to his questions as he started down the street.

"Lex," Xander whispered in a hoarse voice. He tugged on his brother's arm, encouraging him to follow Dash.

But Lex wasn't willing to simply follow the people who hurt them. "You can't really want to go with them after that." He glared at his brother.

Xander dropped his gaze and shifted awkwardly. "That wasn't Dad." His voice was so soft that Lex almost hadn't heard him.

"What?"

"I don't know what happened." Xander rubbed at his forehead, looking like he was starting to have a headache. "But Dad protected us when that - that _thing_ tried throwing that fire stuff at us."

"Xan, you-"

"No, Lex!" Xander shouted, tugging harshly on his arm. "I'm not crazy, and I can't explain what happened. But I think we should go with them and find out what all of this was about." Lex could see the terror that was in Xander's eyes and wondered what his brother was keeping from him. "I don't want to leave them. I'm going to find out what happened even you don't want to." Xander released Lex's arm then turned and raced down the street to follow after Dash. Lex growled, but he couldn't leave Xander alone. He was the older brother. He was supposed to protect Xander. As angry as he was with Danny and Dash at the moment, he hurried to catch up with his family, if he could still call them that.

The walk to their destination felt like it took forever in the silence that hung over them, but it really only took them about an hour. The twins stared up at the house with a large sign reading Fenton Works, and neither of them knew what to think of it. Dash pounded on the door until a large, older man answered it.

"Dash, it's great to see you again," the man said cheerily as he pulled Dash into a one armed hug. "Vlad came over a while ago saying he needed to fix some of my devices." He ushered Dash inside, and the twins followed uncertainly behind the men.

"Did he get everything ready?" When the man nodded, Dash left, carrying Danny away to somewhere else in the house.

"Is anyone going to explain what's happening?" Lex demanded, narrowing his eyes at the older man. "And who are you?"

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine," the man told them, smiling reassuringly at the two boys. "I'm Jack Fenton, Danny's father. I'm an inventor of many things involving ghosts." He bent down and looked back and forth between the two boys. "You really are like a mini Dash and Danny," he joked with a laugh. "You must be Lex." He pointed at the blond twin then pointed to the raven haired twin. "And you're Xander."

"Ghosts?" Xander asked, clinging to that part more than anything else that Jack said.

Jack stood up straight again as he scratched his head. "I should probably let Danny explain it all." He clapped his hands together. "You two must have had a rough night. I'll get you some snacks and put on a movie." Jack disappeared into the kitchen.

"I wish someone would just explain things already," Lex growled as he pulled Xander into the front room. He dropped onto the couch, folding his arms with an angry huff.

Xander joined him and hugged his legs to his chest. "Please don't be mad at Dad."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Lex snapped his glare toward Xander. "How can you be so forgiving toward him?"

"Because that wasn't Dad." Xander buried his head into his knees. "I think that was Mom."

Lex's mouth gaped open, and for a while, he couldn't think of what to say. In the next moment, Jack returned with a bag of chips and some sodas for them. Lex fell silent, not wanting to discuss anything about their mother in front of this man that they had only known for less than a minute.

* * *

Below them, in the basement laboratory of the house, Vlad used one of his inventions, a pair of gloves with sharp glowing claws, to rip the invading ghost from Danny's body. Dash stood at the ready with the Fenton Thermos and sucked it inside before the ghost could try to escape. Her cries were only silenced after Dash slapped the cap onto the Thermos. The three adults waited, staring down at the prone form. Then Danny gasped, blue eyes snapping open.

"Oh, I hate that," Danny groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head. "And by the way, I can still feel the pain when I return to my body." He glared at Dash for the punch, but it held no heat. He knew it was necessary to knock out his body before the ghost could use it to do anything worse.

"I can't believe you allowed such a weak ghost to possess you," Vlad said with a disappointed sneer.

Danny glared at him, but even he felt a little disgusted by that fact. "I should have been able to kick her right out," he grumbled, accepting Dash's arm to help him to his feet. He felt a little weak after the possession. "I've kicked out ghosts stronger than that. I almost had her too, and then," he shook his head, "there was this fiery pain. It felt like my soul was being eaten away by those flames."

The comment made all three of the other adults frown at him. Vlad and Maddie pushed Danny back onto the examining table. Dash didn't try to stop them as the two ghost experts started hooking up vary devices to the young half ghost. Danny could see the concern in Dash's eyes and sighed, knowing it was hopeless to argue against them running various test to diagnosis his condition. He felt fine, other than the weakness that would pass after he rested some. He waited as they complied the information and reviewed the results.

"Well, it doesn't seem like you've sustained any serious damage from that," Maddie said, frowning as she glanced over the papers in her hands. "Maybe we should have run some tests before he returned to his body."

"No serious damage, see?" Danny jumped off the table, and Dash steadied him as he wobbled on his feet. "That means I'm perfectly all right, and you can all stop worrying over me."

"Don't count on that," Dash grumbled, wrapping an arm around Danny's waist and holding him close.

"We still have another matter to deal with," Vlad reminded them as he placed the Fenton Thermos on the examining table. Frowning, he stared at Danny. "I know you're all about second chances." He sighed, like he was thinking of how much of a fool Danny was. "I suppose that way of thinking isn't all bad." He smirked at Danny's glare. "I wouldn't be here if you hadn't given me a second chance. And I doubt your lover there would be here without having a second chance. And you managed to gain many ghosts to your side." A nasty look twisted his face as he nudged the Thermos toward Danny. "But this ghost, I believe, doesn't deserve any favors from you." He lifted his gaze to Danny, noting the sullen expression. "I gather you realized this."

Danny closed his eyes, taking a moment before he let out a long, suffering breath. "I really hate to agree with you on this." He frowned as he opened his eyes again and stared back at Vlad. "Her whole existence revolves around one lingering desire, and I'm not letting her take away my children's lives." Dash's arms tightened around his waist, and Danny could almost feel the hateful glare directed at the Thermos. Maddie placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

Vlad nodded in understanding, and he turned to retrieve the Fenton Peeler. Before Dash arrived with Danny, Vlad went over the device with Maddie to be certain that it wouldn't malfunction if it became necessary to use it. "Ready?" he asked as he turned back.

Danny pulled away from his mother and his lover and stepped forward. When he took hold of the Thermos, he expected his hands to shake more, but there was a strange calm resolve rooted inside him. This ghost planned to do all she could to take the lives of Xander and Lex, and Danny couldn't allow this wrathful ghost to remain free in the Ghost Zone. He uncapped the Thermos then flipped the release switch.

The ghost flew free. When she spotted them, she cackled wickedly, like she thought she somehow had the upper hand in this situation. Before she could yell out something vicious, Vlad pulled the trigger on the Fenton Peeler. The beam struck the ghost, and she shrieked in agony. She flew about the laboratory, her body disintegrating after the blast, but Vlad followed. He blasted at her again and again until finally nothing was left.

"Does it make me bad that I don't feel anything?" Danny asked, breaking the quietness that fell after the ghost's screams faded with her spectral energy.

"Oh, sweetheart," Maddie said, consolingly as she pulled Danny into a hug. "You're not bad. You were protecting your children like any parent would. That ghost was already dead, and as you said, its only reason for manifesting was to kill those two sweet boys."

"Still with that bleeding heart," Vlad mumbled as he put away the Peeler.

Dash took Danny's hand, lacing their fingers. "I know you wanted to keep this part of your life from them, but after this, I think we have no choice but to tell them everything."

Danny sighed, his shoulders sagging. "I know." He dreaded that conversation. As much as he wished to avoid it, he let Dash pulled him back up the stairs to the kitchen. Vlad and Maddie followed along behind them. When they reached the front room, Danny froze up at seeing the twins curled up together on the couch. The neck bore the telltale signs of being strangled with the ugly purple bruises looking dark upon their pale flesh. "They're going to hate me." His heart hurt at that thought.

"We'll explain things," Dash said, nudging Danny to move forward. "They'll understand."

Danny wasn't as certain of that fact as Dash. He was lucky that the people that he told all loved him enough not to care about his half ghost status. But he couldn't shake the sinking feeling that Lex and Xander would hate him. Even if it was under possession, it was still his body that had injured them, and he knew that destroy all the trust and love that they had built up since the adoption.

"Is it okay if we take the car?" Dash asked. "I'll bring it back in the morning."

"Of course," Maddie said and disappeared into the kitchen to retrieve the keys.

"All right, kids," Dash said after Maddie brought him the keys. "Time to go home." He could see the distrust in Lex's eyes and knew that look had to be killing Danny. But Xander uncurled and climbed off the couch as Danny walked numbly toward the door. When Danny opened the door, Xander slipped his hand into Danny's hand then pulled the man down the walkway. Dash almost grinned at that until his gaze landed on Lex, who was glaring darkly at everyone as he left the house. After saying his goodbyes, Dash joined his family outside, and they climbed into the car.

The car ride home was unbearably silent. Dash glanced over at Danny frequently, knowing the other man would be playing out how to tell their children everything in every possible scenario. He sighed, hoping Danny wouldn't drive himself crazy doing that. When they finally arrived at their apartment, the twins immediately turned on them.

"Are you going to give some answers now?" Lex demanded with his arms folded guardedly across his chest. His glare pierced into Danny.

"This is going to be a long night," Danny mumbled, rubbing at his forehead.

"It'll go faster if you just start at the beginning," Dash told him then directed the twins farther into the apartment to sit on the couch.

"Okay." Danny took a deep breath as everyone settled in comfortably. "My parents are ghost hunters, and they've always been obsessed with ghosts. They built this thing called a Ghost Portal, but it didn't work at first. I was always kind of curious about what might be on the other side, so I went into the machine, at the urging of my friend. And," he shrugged, searching for the words, "I must have pressed something that turned it on, but I was caught in it as it activated. As a result, I," he hesitated then hung his head. "I became half ghost, not quite human anymore."

"You're more human than some people," Dash argued, glaring at Danny for making that comment.

Danny offered a weak smile to him. "Anyway, ever since I was fourteen, I've been fighting the ghosts that sneak through the Ghost Portal." Rings of light appeared around his waist, and in seconds, he sat across from the twins in his ghost form. After a demonstration of turning invisible, he turned back into regular Danny. His insides twisted uncomfortably, thinking of the twins' reactions. The boys were surprised, too shocked to speak, and silence fell over them. Danny curled sweaty hands around his knees and glanced toward Dash, who took one of his hands and squeezed it lightly in reassurance. Dash thought the boys could handle this secret, but Danny was waiting for cries of monster and freak or something worse.

"So that really was our mother?" Xander asked, and Lex tensed next to him. Neither of them liked to think too much about their mother after everything that happened.

Danny blinked in shock when there was no horrible outburst. Then he paled at the question, not expecting the twins to realize that fact. He glanced at Dash, who gave an encouraging sign to continue. "Yes," Danny answered slowly, lowering his gaze. "I didn't know it at first. I only sensed the vague presence of a ghost lurking around, but I was having trouble pinpointing it. It didn't seem like a very strong one. We fought, and she tried possessing me." Danny brow wrinkled. "She had this fiery power that overwhelmed me once she was inside and she took control."

"You mean she kicked you out of your own body," Lex spat out, the glare not leaving his face. He knew that point was correct when a little more color drained from Danny's face.

"I-" Danny closed his eyes, his brow furrowing in pain. "I never wanted this to happen. I thought-" He shook his head, his eyes rolling up toward the ceiling like the words he needed were written there. "I had this delusion that if I kept that part of my life a secret, you'd both somehow be protected from it. Like not knowing shielded you from being attacked by ghosts." He hunched forward, feeling like the worst parent in the world. "All I ever wanted was to give you a happy home and a family that loves you, and now you probably hate me. I failed to keep you safe."

"But you did protect us," Xander argued. "That red fire stuff probably could have killed us if you hadn't shown up and protected us with that," he waved his arms before him, struggling to describe what happened, "barrier thing."

Danny blinked at Xander, worry flashing in his eyes. "You saw that?" He shared a concerned look with Dash after Xander nodded.

Lex remained quiet for a while, his face scrunched up thought. Then he stood and walked around to where Danny sat. "You - It wasn't your fault," he said, hands clenching at his sides as he forced the words out. "Even if you weren't," his gaze lowered, "she still would have possessed you or him," he pointed at Dash. "She would have used you to come after us regardless because-" His brow creased as he thought hard about what he was trying to say. "Because if she failed to kill us, then at least using you would break up the family." He balled his fists tighter as he shouted, "I'm not letting her win! If she makes us hate you, then she's won."

Danny stared sadly at the bruises on Lex's neck. "But when you think back on this, you're going to remember me being the one to do that to you." He reached up, lightly running his fingers over the marks, and he could see Lex forcing himself not to flinch away from the touch. "I can't erase that memory from you." He dropped his hand away, already fearing the rift this incident would cause between him and his sons. Lex surprised him when he suddenly threw his arms around Danny. In another moment, Xander had joined them, clinging tightly to the man. Danny relaxed a little as he hugged the twins close to him.

Dash wore a smug smile as he watched his family. He had that "I told you" look that Danny sometimes hated, but for the moment, Danny was happy that Dash was right. "Okay," Dash said as he stood. "I think it's time for bed. It's late, and you two have had quite a night." He ignored any whines coming from the twins.

Lex paused on the way to their room. "Can we learn some of that ghost hunting stuff?" His excitement died when Danny looked hesitant to answer.

"If another ghost attacks, we want to know what to do," Xander added with hope in his eyes.

"You know, it's not entirely a bad idea," Dash said, though he knew it was the last thing Danny wanted to hear at the moment.

Danny sighed. "All right!" He threw up his arms. "We'll work something out, but school work comes first. Now off to bed." He shooed them toward their bedroom. Feeling exhausted, he looked forward to collapsing into bed and sleeping for a good long time.

After they entered their room, Lex grabbed hold of Xander's arm. "How did you know that was Mom?" he asked, staring worriedly at his brother.

Xander turned his gaze away then hugged his arms around him like he was cold. "That look in his eyes," he mumbled. "It reminded me of every time Mom looked at us, with hatred like she wished we'd never been born. Like we were some horrible burden and she'd be better off if she hadn't gotten pregnant with us." He glanced back at Lex. "Remember, that's what she used to say? And then she said it again when she was possessing Dad?"

Lex frowned. "I guess I've trying to block out all of that." His expression was miserable as he lowered his gaze. "I hate remembering anything before the fire."

Xander tugged on Lex's sleeve. "Mom maybe not have wanted us, but Dash and Danny _do_. They chose us. They love us and care about us."

"I know," Lex mumbled and ruffled his brother's hair.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Xander!" Elden ran up to his friend. "What happened with your father on Friday?" He had worried that his friend's family was in crisis. When Xander didn't call him during the weekend, Elden grew even more worried.

"Oh, hey, Elden." Xander smiled at the other boy as he removed his history text book from the locker. "Don't worry about Friday. The thing with my father was resolved. Everything's okay now."

"Then why didn't you call me? I was worried." Elden frowned as he poked his friend in the side.

Xander laughed and slapped the hand away. "Sorry. My parents decided to have a family day Saturday so we could get to know our grandparents better," he explained. Elden leaned against the locker next to Xander. His expression turned from a frown to a look of hurt. "And Sunday, Danielle's parents had a barbeque because they had big news to announce."

"What news?" Elden's face brightened with curiosity.

"Xander!" a girl called from down the hallway.

Xander groaned as he laid his head on Elden's shoulder. "That's the big news. Danielle was bumped up another grade."

Elden patted his friend on the head. The younger girl that he had seen with Lex, Sandra, and Denise at the club on Friday jogged down the hall toward them. Xander turned away from Elden to face her when she got closer to the pair. Danielle leaped at the teen and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Can you believe we're in the same grade?" Danielle asked while she bounced with excitement. Xander glanced toward Elden with an expression pleading for help. "Show me around." Danielle took Xander's hand and pulled him down the hall. Elden closed the locker for his friend as he watched the two disappear among the crowd of other students.

"Someone looks a little down," Denise said when she walked up to Elden.

"Danielle's attending Casper High now," Elden said as he ran a hand through his short hair.

"She's nice. Why are you unhappy about her being here?" Denise wrapped an arm around Elden's shoulders and gave them a small squeeze like it could alleviate whatever sorrow the boy felt.

"Who said I'm unhappy?" Elden forced a grin onto his face like it proved her wrong. He turned and headed for his first class with Denise's arm still slung over his shoulder.

When lunch rolled around, Xander managed to avoid Courtney and Bernice dragging him to the table reserved for the "popular" girls. He snuck over to the jock table where Lex ate lunch with his fellow teammates. The other jocks glared at him when he sat at their table. Since he was Lex's brother, they didn't make any comments or tell him to leave.

"Lex, Danielle won't leave me alone," Xander complained as he leaned against his brother with a frown on his face.

"Does he always whine like that?" Clint questioned from his seat next to Xander. He was the captain of the football team. His black hair looked like peach fuzz, and Xander had a strange urge to run his hand over it only to see how it felt.

"Shut up, Clint." Lex sneered at the older boy before turning his attention to his twin. "She's new to the school. She just wants you to show her around until she gets used to the school."

"No, Lex, she's being all clingy." Xander's face contorted in a small expression of disgust at the word. "She's outside the door after every one of my classes. She won't let go of my arm when we walk down the hallway. If she just wanted to be shown around, she could ask you and Sandra to help her. Why does she have to cling to me?" Xander frowned, giving Lex the impression of a kicked puppy.

"You know, it sounds to me like she may have a crush on you," Clint said, offering his opinion even though the twins hadn't asked for it.

"But she's like a sister to me." Xander's nose wrinkled up when he said that, and Clint chuckled at the younger boy's expression.

"That may be the way you see her, but it doesn't mean she sees you as a brother figure." Clint picked up his soda and took a sip. "What you should do is tell her you aren't interested in her in that way. Better to hurt her now instead of leading her on and letting her think you do like her in that way."

Xander stared with one brow raised at the older jock. He shook his head and decided to ignore Clint. "I'm going to see where Elden's hanging out." He stood from his seat on the bench. Then he headed to the exit of the cafeteria.

"Your brother doesn't like me very much," Clint said as he dipped a fry into the pool of ketchup on his tray of food.

"Of course not. You're a jerk." Lex and Clint shared a glare before returning to their separate meals.

* * *

"Xander isn't talking me," Danielle said as she sat outside with Sandra and Denise during lunch.

"Maybe you should try to be less clingy," Denise suggested, brushing back a strand of her hair. "Right now, you're pushing him away."

"I didn't even know you liked Xander," Sandra said with an expression of shock on her face.

"I don't _like_ like him." Danielle looked away, taking a sip from her juice box. "I just haven't gotten to see a lot of Xander and Lex since you three started high school." The bus had changed its schedule about a month before, making it so that Danielle no longer went over to their apartment after school. She saw Sandra every now and then because they lived in the same neighborhood.

"If you didn't _like_ like him, why is he the only one you're clinging too?" Sandra pointed out before taking a bite of her salad. Danielle shrugged with her gaze directed away from the other two girls. Her eyes lit up when she spotted Xander walking around with Elden.

"Xander!" Danielle called out and waved to her friend. Xander looked over to the trio of girls. He waved back with a smile before turning back to his conversation with Elden.

"Yeah, she's not really interested in him," Sandra whispered to Denise as she rolled her eyes.

"Since we're on the topic of crushes, who do you like?" Denise asked after she swallowed her bite of a sandwich.

"Oh, I don't really have a crush on anyone," Sandra answered as her face turned red.

"Yes, you do." Danielle leaned over to whisper to Denise. "She has a crush on Lex."

"I do not!" Sandra glared at Danielle, daring her to say another word. Danielle smiled with smug satisfaction. When the bell rang, the three girls groaned. They threw away their trash and gathered their things before splitting up and heading to their next classes. Denise and Sandra walked into their English class and took their seats on either side of Lex.

"Danielle seems to have a crush on your brother," Denise said. She pulled her hair back and tied it in a ponytail.

"That's what Clint said too," Lex said but didn't look up from the book he was reading. "I can't wait for that guy to graduate."

"You're just saying that because Jessica likes him." Denise pulled out her own book for class along with her notebook and pen.

"No, it's because I think he's a jerk." Lex set his book on his desk. He turned in his seat to face Denise. "But back to what you said. Xander doesn't like Danielle in the romantic way. He thinks of her like a sister."

"Aw, she's going to be heartbroken." Denise frowned.

"Mr. Rutherford, Ms. Adams, I am starting class now so will you stop conversing with each other?" their English teacher questioned. He folded his arms over his chest and glared at the pair. Lex faced forward, and they both pretended to listen to his lecture.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"How about this place?" Dash asked as he held up the newspaper and pointed to the house for sale. Danny paused in his task of peeling potatoes to glance at it.

"Dash," Danny said, sighing in exasperation. "If we moved there, we would be in a different school district, which means we would have to transfer the boys to a new school." He returned to peeling. Dash started looking for a house a month ago, but Danny always managed to find a reason to reject it. It all made Danny rather frustrated.

"Danny, I'm under the impression that you don't really want to move." Dash frowned, watching Danny stop peeling again; except this time, he set the peeler and the potato on the counter.

Danny turned to face his lover; an uncertain look in his eyes. "It's not that I don't want to move," he said; his voice soft and almost inaudible. "I just want to find the perfect place." He closed the gap as he pressed against Dash's chest and wrapped his arms around the chef's neck. "You want to keep me happy, right?"

Danny leaned forward, applying gentle pressure to the man's lips. Dash responded in an instant, turning the chaste kiss into a passion-filled one. His hands slipped down his lover's sides and came to rest upon Danny's hips. Tongues tangled in a heated battle as Dash guided them back toward the counter and crushed Danny between it and his body. When Dash ended the kiss, Danny whined in protest until Dash's lips found their way to the man's neck. Danny tilted his head to the side to give Dash better access. His eyes landed on the door to the kitchen where six familiar faces watched them with various expressions of amusement and embarrassment.

"Hi, kids!" Danny exclaimed followed by a nervous laugh as he nudged his lover's shoulder. Dash pulled back, looking embarrassed about the teenagers catching them.

"Don't stop on account of us," Danielle said with a wide grin stretched across her face.

"Out of the kitchen," Danny ordered, pointing to the door.

"We're not in the kitchen," Sandra said with a smug smirk.

"I'll leave you to your cooking," Dash whispered. He placed a kiss to Danny's cheek before ushering the teenagers away from the kitchen.

"Hey, Sandra, pucker up," Lex said as he held a mistletoe over their heads.

"In your dreams!" Sandra shoved the blond twin away. Lex stumbled back into Denise. They stared at each other; Lex with one hand on Denise's hip while the other held the mistletoe above them. Lex's grin faded when Denise shook her head. She disentangled herself from his hold and joined Danielle and Sandra on one of the couches.

"Come on! It's mistletoe!" Lex complained and plopped into the open spot next to Elden on the other couch. Dash walked by and took the mistletoe from Lex so he could hang it up again.

"Are your parents going to come?" Xander asked Elden while the girls teased Lex.

"No, they… um… had an office party to go to," Elden answered, but Xander didn't quite believe him. "I'm thirsty. Do you want anything?" Elden started to leave his seat when Xander stopped him.

"I'll get it," Xander said and jumped off the couch. He walked to the kitchen door and peeked in to see how busy Danny was. Slipping inside, he walked to the cabinet and grabbed two glasses.

"Oh, Xan, can you take the sparkling cider to Dash so he can uncork it?" Danny asked. He crossed the short distance to the oven to check on his turkey. Thanks to Dash and Xander, Danny was getting better at the whole cooking thing, but his skills still paled in comparison to his lover and his son.

"Dad, did you talk to Elden's parents about the party?" Xander asked, grabbing the bottle of sparkling cider from the counter.

Danny thought about it before answering. "Actually no. Elden answered the phone when I called them. He said he would talk to his parents about it."

"Elden said they had an office party, but I don't think he even talked to them about it."

"Maybe they were just too busy, so he didn't bother to ask them." Danny sighed when the pout remained on Xander's face. "What's really bothering you?"

"I don't know," Xander responded, rolling his shoulders in a small shrug as he looked away. "Doesn't it seem weird that he's never let me meet his parents?"

"Xander, you weren't supposed to come in here," Dash said, hands falling onto the younger twin's shoulders and making him jump. "Oh, Danny, your parents just arrived." Dash turned Xander around and pushed him out of the kitchen. He took the bottle of sparkling cider from Xander's hand and went to get the corkscrew.

"Danny!" Maddie entered the kitchen and pulled her son into a tight embrace.

"I'm glad you could make it, Mom. Is Dad still in the other room?"

"Yeah, he wanted to show the kids his latest invention." Maddie laughed at Danny's paling face. "Don't worry. I think the other kids think he's losing his marbles, so to speak."

"So Jazz couldn't make it?" Danny asked, and received shake of his mother's head. "Well, maybe next time we have a big family get together she'll be able to make it."

"Shouldn't Dash be in here cooking?" Maddie asked as she looked at all the food being cooked.

"I'm cooking dinner."

"You?" Maddie laughed until she realized Danny was serious. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I just never thought I'd live to see the day when you cooked such a large meal."

"Dash spends most of the day at the restaurant cooking, so I don't want him to have to cook all the time when he's at home. And both Dash and Xander have been teaching me to cook." Danny crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. Before Maddie could respond, Jack entered the kitchen with a disappointed expression on his face.

"They laughed at me," Jack said as he clutched his invention to his chest.

"Of course they laughed! Only Lex and Xander know that ghosts really do exist," Danny said, not trying to be mean. "Could you go tell them that dinner will be ready to serve as soon as the others arrived?" Danny asked in a super sweet voice. He didn't want his father in the kitchen in case Jack did something and blew up the turkey.

Half an hour later, Sam and Tom showed up, and ten minutes after that, Tucker and Paulina arrived. Mrs. Baxter had gone on a cruise that Dash paid for, so she couldn't make it to their Christmas party. Danny finished setting out all the dishes he prepared for dinner, happy that he didn't ruin anything and that everything looked edible. The eight adults sat at one table while the six teenagers sat at another.

"Danny," Jack said and leaned over the table to speak to his son while everyone else conversed with each other and complimented Danny on the wonderful job he did cooking everything. "I heard last week that Mr. Holman was finally planning on selling his house and moving down to Florida."

"Really?" Danny's eyes widened when Jack nodded. Danny poked Dash's shoulder, drawing the man's attention away from another conversation. "Dash, Mr. Holman is selling his house!"

"What's so special about his house?" Dash asked, wondering why Danny seemed so excited.

"Because it's the perfect house for us! And it's located in the same neighborhood as Tucker and Sam, so our kids would be able to hang out more often. And it's close to both our parents. And we won't have to transfer the boys to a new school."

"So you're finally agreeing to move out of this apartment?"

Danny nodded, not able to wipe the wide grin off his face. A small smile twitched at Dash's lips. He leaned over, kissing Danny's cheek in thanks for deciding on a house.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Can we open presents, Dad?" Lex and Xander asked, putting on pleading looks with twin puppy dog eyes and their lower lips pushed out adding a little quiver.

"Nice try, boys. You can't open presents until morning," Danny said as he ignored their faces. The adults remained at the dining table drinking tea with their pieces of pumpkin pie. The children, who had finished their pieces already, kept picking up the presents and shaking them to see if they could guess what each one was.

"I told you it wouldn't work," Danielle grumbled, pouting on the couches with the other teenagers.

"Oh come on, Dad! Just one? Please!" Lex whined and tugged on Danny's sleeve.

"Let them open one, Danny," Dash said as he pinched his lover's side.

Danny jerked away and shot a glare at the man. "You know I hate when you pinch me!" he whispered and then proceeded to flick Dash's ear. He turned to his sons with a stern look on his face. "One and only one present each."

"Ha, ha! In your face, Danielle. He agreed," Lex said, laughing and pointing at the younger girl. Both Danny and Xander reached over and slapped Lex on the back of the head, causing the rest of the room to break into laughter. The other teenagers grabbed a present from under the tree. Xander and Lex hurried over to grab one as well.

"Yes, Zombie Eater IX!" Danielle cheered, hugging the new videogame to her chest. Then she remembered to thank Lex for buying the game.

Sandra opened her present next. Danielle, not having a lot of money to spend on presents for everyone, had bought Sandra a heart pendant on a silver chain. Elden opened his present from Sandra next. She had bought him a new music player since his old one had been smashed during some mysterious accident. Xander went next, opening the present from Elden.

"Oh wow! Thanks, Elden!" Xander hugged his friend before looking through the pastry book at all the delicious desserts. Elden smiled as he watched the happiness dance in Xander's eyes.

Denise ripped the silver wrapping paper off the present from Xander. Her mouth fell open in shock as she ran her hand over the cover of the book. When she opened it and glanced through the pages, she found it filled with her favorite poems. She looked toward Xander, who blushed and dropped his gaze back to the pastry book. Crossing the distance between the two couches, Denise hugged Xander and thanked him for the present.

Lex opened his present last. He could tell the gift beneath the wrapping was some sort of book. After tearing off the wrapping, Lex stared at the leather bond notebook. His name was pressed into the leather in thick black lettering.

"I know it's not the greatest gift," Denise said in a soft, shy voice, afraid that Lex didn't like the gift.

"No, it's great! I like it," Lex replied with a wide grin. Xander glanced toward Denise and gave her smile before turning his attention back to Elden.

"Lex likes writing?" Danny asked Dash in a whisper. "How come I never knew that?"

"I didn't know either," Dash answered with a shrug. When they heard a knock at the door, Dash and Danny exchanged confused looks before Danny stood to answer the door.

"Vlad," Danny said, shocked to see the other half ghost standing on the other side of the door. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to a party in Wisconsin."

"Well, I was going to go to that," Vlad said as he entered the apartment. "But then I thought: where would I rather spend my Christmas Eve? And I decided I would much rather be the people who truly care about me. Ah, Maddie, you're looking as lovely as ever." Vlad took Maddie's hand and kissed the back side of it. Jack's eye twitched even though he knew Vlad only wanted to get a reaction out of him.

"Did you bring us presents?" Danielle questioned from her spot at the far end of the couch.

Vlad turned to look at the girl. "Not for you," he said, making Danielle pout. "But for Lex and Xander, I have a little something." He reached into his pocket and pulled out two envelopes. Then he handed one to each boy.

"Whoa!" The twins' eyes widened when they saw the amount written on the checks within the envelopes. Danny walked over and plucked the checks from the boys' hands.

"Five hundred dollars!" Danny shouted. "You can't give them that much money!"

"And this is for you and your lover," Vlad said, ignoring Danny's outburst as he handed his godson another envelope. Danny's lips thinned into an angry line as he looked at the contents of the envelope.

"A trip to a spa?" Danny looked up and blinked at the elder half ghost.

"I thought since you and Dash work so hard, you should be allowed a weekend off to relax. It's arranged for Valentine's Day weekend."

"We'd have to get someone to watch the boys," Danny mumbled, glancing toward Dash.

"I can do that," Vlad answered with a wide grin. Danny turned back to him, frowning in a disapproving manner. "I want a chance to bond with them. And think, next time I'll be able to get them actual present because I'll know what they like. Then I won't upset you again by giving them insane amounts of money."

"Fine," Danny said with a sigh. "But this money," he held up the two checks, "is going into their savings accounts." He turned and walked into his bedroom to put the checks into a locked draw in his desk.

While Danny was gone, Vlad slipped Lex and Xander each a fifty dollar bill and motioned for them to keep quiet about it. The twins stuffed the bills into their pockets. When he looked up, Vlad noticed Dash giving him a stern look and the other adults giving him amused smirks. Danny returned, but no one mentioned anything about the money. Vlad was shocked that Dash kept silent.

The rest of the night was filled with pleasant conversation by both the adults and the teenagers. Vlad continued to flirt with Maddie, and Jack ignored it to the best of his ability. Soon the evening came to an end, and it was time for everyone to leave the small apartment. Jack and Maddie offered to take Denise and Elden home since their parents couldn't come to get them. Before leaving, the girls each gave Lex a kiss on the cheek. Lex let out a cheer for the kisses and then turned to laugh at Xander and Elden who didn't receive any kisses from the girls. Xander only rolled his eyes at his twin, not really caring about being kissed by any of the girls. Once everyone was gone, Dash ushered the twins to bed before pulling Danny off to their bedroom.

"Do you think I need to be more accepting of Vlad's money?" Danny questioned as he climbed into bed with Dash. The twins were already in bed, and Danny spent an hour putting all the dishes in the dishwasher.

"Well, five hundred dollars may have been a little much to give to our sons," Dash replied, sliding an arm under Danny and pulling him closer. "But he just wants to be a good godfather to you."

"I believe he said he wanted to spoil me and my family with his money." Danny sighed and rested his head on Dash's chest. "If he wants to give us gifts, it should be from his heart and not just a way to give us money he has no use for himself."

"And that's one of the things I love about you." Dash combed his fingers through Danny's hair.

"Um, what?" Danny tilted his head for a better view of his lover's face.

"That you would rather have a simple gift from the heart rather than have money thrown at you," Dash answered and kissed Danny's forehead.

"Lots of money may be nice, but it won't necessarily make me happy. I would rather earn the money than have it given to me." Danny nuzzled into Dash's neck as his hand drew patterns upon the man's chest. "However, that spa trip sounds really nice right about now." Dash nodded his agreement before leaning his head down to give Danny a goodnight kiss on the lips.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Do you think it was really okay to leave them alone with Vlad?" Danny questioned as he leaned his head upon Dash's shoulder. They were in a taxi on their way to the spa for the weekend. Danny felt now more than ever that they really needed this trip. During January, they negotiated with Mr. Holman about the price of his house. Then at the beginning of February, they finally moved into Mr. Holman's house. The stress level made Danny nearly insane with frustration, and his editor demanding the manuscript for his next book didn't help.

"Will you stop worrying about it? Vlad will take good care of them," Dash said, squeezing Danny's side to make him squirm. "You need to relax." The taxi driver grumbled something about gays, but a glare from Dash stopped any further complaints he had.

"I just hope they don't do anything stupid while we're gone," Danny mumbled. Ever since they adopted the twins, they had never left them alone for longer than a night. But thoughts of a day at the spa and wonderful Valentine's Day night with Dash almost made his worries fade away. Danny grinned as he leaned on Dash.

* * *

Back at Casper High, school was coming to an end. Xander talked with Denise as they walked toward her locker. He hadn't received anything from anyone for Valentine's Day whereas Lex had been given gobs and gobs of cards and chocolates from the girls in their class. Not that Xander was complaining, of course. When they reached her locker, Denise pulled out a large bag of Hershey's chocolate Kisses and gave them to Xander.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Denise leaned over and gave Xander a kiss on the cheek.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Xander mumbled, blushing in embarrassment.

"But I wanted to," Denise said as she shut her locker.

"Thanks," Xander said, turning his head away and trying to will away his blush. He spotted Elden walking down the hallway. "Elden!" he shouted and waved toward the other boy. Denise gave Xander a push.

"Go on. I know you want to go talk to him." Denise laughed at the boy's reddening face.

Xander wavered between the option of staying or going. Then he said his goodbye to Denise and jogged down the hallway to meet with Elden.

"You gave Xander a Valentine's Day gift?" someone asked from behind her.

Denise jumped as she turned to face the unexpected arrival. "Lex," she said, rolling her eyes at the blond twin. "I figured that with all the stuff the girls have showered you with, you wouldn't care whether or not you got anything from me." She grinned as she turned to walk toward the exit of the school. Lex hurried to catch up with her and walked beside her.

"So you really didn't get me anything for Valentine's Day?" Lex asked, frowning at his friend.

"I didn't realize you cared that much about it." Denise couldn't hold back a giggle at Lex's pout.

"Not even one little piece of candy for me? _And_ you gave Xander a kiss on his cheek!" Lex looked a little miffed about that fact.

"Oh, so that's what this is really about." Denise paused on the front steps of the school and turned to face her friend. Lex stared at her in confusion like he didn't understand what Denise was trying to say. "You're upset that I gave Xander a kiss, and you didn't get anything."

"No, that's not it," Lex said, denying the girl's statement.

Denise smiled as she cupped Lex's face with her hands. Then she leaned in slowly, pressing her lips to the boy's lips. Lex's body tensed at the first touch of Denise's soft full lips to his rough chapped lips. A minute later, Denise pulled away from the stunned boy.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Denise whispered, giving him a short peck, before jogging down the steps of the school. Lex blinked, taking a moment to register that the kiss had ended.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Lex shouted as he ran after his friend, but Denise already climbed into her mother's car. Reaching the curb, Lex frowned and watched the car drive away. When it disappeared around the corner, Lex sighed as he looked away. He caught Xander and Elden sitting on the bench staring at him. His eyes narrowed in a glare, and the two boys turned to glance at each other.

"Lex and Denise sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-" Xander sang until Lex growled. The younger twin yelped as he ran from his brother who looked like he was ready to kill Xander. Elden smirked, watching the brothers playfully wrestle with each other on the school's front lawn.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Vlad questioned Xander later that evening.

"I'm not that interested in football," Xander said around the chocolate kiss in his mouth. "I only go to games at school because Lex is on the team."

"I don't know if your fathers would like me leaving you here all alone," Vlad said with an uncertain frown on his aged face.

"They don't really need to know." Xander grinned at his father's godfather. "It'll be our little secret. Besides, I'm fourteen. I can take care of myself."

"Fine. I have my cell phone if you need anything." Vlad patted the boy on his head before he stood.

"This game is going to be awesome," Lex said with his voice full of excitement. "The Panthers have a really good team this year. They might give the Packers a run for their money."

"You wish, kid," Vlad said, snorting as he followed the older twin out of the house.

"You want to bet?" Xander heard Lex say before the door closed. A few minutes after he heard the car engine start, the doorbell rang. He leaped off the couch and went to answer the door.

"You're right on time." Xander grinned at the boy standing on the other side of the door.

"Your brother would kill me if he knew I was here," Elden said, laughing as he entered the house. "So what movie are we watching tonight?"

"I've got Dead Teacher VI, Darkness Falls, Race through Time, and a few others," Xander answered, plopping onto the couch again. He removed the foil from another Kiss and popped it into his mouth.

"Hmm… Let's watch Darkness Falls," Elden suggested. He grabbed the box and took out the DVD. Then he walked over to the television to put it into the DVD player. Returning to the couch, he sat beside his friend as the movie started.

While they watched, Xander happily munched on the chocolates given to him by Denise. Elden laid his arm over the back of the couch behind Xander, who then leaned into the other boy. Xander scooted closer, laying his head on Elden's shoulder, as he sought a more comfortable position. Elden moved his arm from resting on the back of the couch to wrapping it around Xander's shoulders. During the evening, his arm lowered to wrap rest upon the other boy's hip, drawing Xander closer to him. The bag of chocolates went by quickly as the movie played. Elden reached into the bag and retrieved the final Hershey's Kiss. Once the foil was off, he pushed it between his lips.

Xander found himself watching the last of his chocolates disappear into the other boy's mouth. His tongue darted out to lick his lips, his heart drumming in his ears, until he couldn't take it anymore. Reaching up, he turned Elden's head away from the television screen to face him. Pressing his lips to the other boy's, Xander slid his tongue between Elden's parted lips, seeking the chocolate within the other boy's mouth. He moaned, licking the delicious chocolate off the roof of the singer's mouth. When Elden began to return the kiss, Xander's eyes snapped open, and he tore his mouth from the other boy's lips.

"I - Oh g- I wasn't - I didn't mean to - I wasn't thinking - I-" Xander stuttered as his face grew redder and redder with each attempt to explain his actions. His ramblings continued until he noticed Elden leaning in toward him; slowly like he wanted to give Xander time to back away. His hand caressed Xander's blushing cheek. Xander's eyes fluttered shut as he closed the distance, sealing their lips. The second kiss was slow and tender, and Xander could almost feel the love pouring from the other boy as their lips meshed together. When Elden pulled away, Xander tried to follow his lips, but Elden held him back.

"You don't even realize how beautiful you are, do you?" Elden mumbled, staring into Xander's eyes. "You make me feel things I've never felt for anyone before, and sometimes I think it'll drive me insane." Xander almost broke into dizzy giggles from the excitement bursting inside him. But another kiss from Elden kept the giggles from erupting. He relaxed into the kiss, his arms wrapping around Elden's neck, as he drew the other boy closer.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Vlad and Lex entered the house, chatting about the football game. Lex threw his jacket onto the banister before walking into the front room where the blue screen of the television illuminated the dim-lit room. But he froze when he looked toward the couch across from the television. Xander curled against Elden's chest with his head nuzzling into the other boy's neck while Elden's arms wrapped loosely around his waist. Lex's mouth dropped open, but Vlad slapped a hand over it before the boy could say anything. The millionaire pushed the older twin out of the room and glanced toward the younger twin to see his eyes crack open. Then he dragged Lex up the stairs to talk.

"How can he-" Lex said but stopped as he released a frustrated growl.

"This can't be about the possibility that Xander is gay," Vlad said, watching the teenager with observant eyes. "You obviously don't have a problem with homosexuality since Dash and Danny are gay."

"I don't care if Xander's gay," Lex said, his voice rising in volume as he spoke. "But why with him?"

"Why not with him?" Xander questioned from the doorway to his brother's room. He crossed his arms and glared at his twin.

"Did you forget that he tried to hurt you on the first day of school?" Lex shouted.

"You can't keep using that excuse! He wasn't even trying to hurt me," Xander yelled back. "Or have you forgotten that Dash used to bully Danny all the time when they were in high school?"

"Don't compare this situation to our fathers!"

"I kissed him first," Xander whispered with his gaze to the floor, causing both Vlad and Lex to stare at him with wide eyes. "I like him… in a more than a friend way. This is the first time I've ever liked anyone this much. Don't ruin it just because of one incident that happened months ago!" Xander's face grew red; whether from anger or embarrassment the other two weren't sure.

Lex stared into his brother's eyes, understanding passing between them, before he sighed. "Fine. I'll try to happy for you. But if Elden ever does anything to hurt you, I'll break his neck," Lex warned, and Vlad slapped him on the back of the head with a disapproving look.

"Is your friend still here?" Vlad asked, turning to look at Xander.

"No, he left as soon as we woke up," Xander answered, feeling embarrassed about the other two walking in on Elden and him sleeping in each other's arms.

"Good," Vlad responded with a nod of his head. "You two should get ready for bed now." The twins groaned as they shuffled toward the bathroom.

* * *

Miles away, Danny walked out of the bathroom connected to their room at the spa's hotel. He dried his hair with one of the white towels and dropped it to the ground once he reached the king-sized bed in the center of their room. Dash grabbed the other man by the hips and pulled onto the bed.

"I don't think I have ever felt this relaxed in all my life," Danny whispered before sealing their mouths together in a slow, tender kiss. Dash's hands traveled up the pale skin of his lover, enjoying the feel of the smooth, soft skin beneath his fingers.

"Definitely have to come here again," Dash murmured against Danny's lips. His lover sighed, falling back onto his heels, as he stared into Dash's eyes. "You aren't worrying about the twins, are you?"

"No, well, a little," Danny said, dropping his arms from around his lover's neck. "I can't help but be a little worried. Aren't you?"

"Of course, I'm a little worried." Dash caressed his lover's face, and Danny leaned into the touch. "But they're perfectly fine under Vlad's care. So let's enjoy ourselves." His hands slid down Danny's body and tugged on the towel wrapped around his waist. "Have I told you how beautiful you are today?" His hands massaged the insides of Danny's thighs, inching farther up the milky skin. Danny leaned forward to latch onto his neck, sucking and biting the skin there, while he worked quickly to remove the robe hiding his lover's body from him. The rest of the world fell away, everything forgotten, as the two men spent another passionate night at the spa.

* * *

"Did you clean up the mess in the kitchen?" Vlad shouted after he turned off the vacuum cleaner.

"All clean," Xander and Lex shouted back from the kitchen.

Vlad checked over the front room one more time before he allowed himself to relax. He didn't want Danny and Dash to be angry with him by coming home to a messy house. He sat on the couch, sighing in relief. The twins joined him shortly after, both flopping on the couch with cold sodas in their hands.

"I'm surprised you didn't ditch us to go hang out with your new boyfriend," Lex said in a teasing way.

"Shut up!" Xander blushed as he sank into the couch, hugging the soda to his chest. "Like your crush on Denise isn't totally obvious."

"I - I don't have a crush on her." Lex looked away, taking a sip from his soda, as he tried to hide his own blush.

Vlad rolled his eyes as the twins bickered with each other about the objects of their crushes. At least Lex wasn't attacking Xander for liking that Elden boy anymore. Vlad flipped on the television and turned it to the sports channel, which got Lex cheering on one of the teams playing and made Xander groan.

An hour later, Dash and Danny walked through the front door. Xander and Lex leaped off the couch, almost knocking Vlad over on their way to their fathers. Danny pulled both boys into tight hugs and didn't want to let them go.

"I missed you two so much," Danny said before releasing them.

"It was only for two nights," Lex said and rolled his eyes at his father.

"Imagine what he'll be like after we come back from the freshmen spring break trip," Xander said, laughing at Danny's reaction from being gone for such a short time.

"What trip?" Dash questioned with his arms folded over his chest as he stared down at the twins.

"Idiot," Lex muttered, smacking Xander on the arm.

"No hitting!" Danny ordered as he pointed a finger at the older twin. "Now what's this about a freshmen trip?"

"Our class pooled together enough money to go on a trip to Florida during spring break," Xander explained. "We were planning on telling you… eventually."

"Well, duh!" Lex snorted. "We need them to sign the permission slips."

"I don't know if I like the idea of them going away for a week to Florida," Danny whispered to Dash.

"There will be chaperones, correct?" Dash asked and received quick nods from the twins.

"Now that you two are back, I guess I should take my leave," Vlad said, disrupting the current conversation as he walked into the hallway heading for the front door.

"Aw, you're leaving already?" Danny looked disappointed, making the elder half ghost feel somewhat guilty for leaving.

"I wish I could stay, but I already agreed to have dinner with Maddie and Jack," Vlad answered.

"You're willing to spend time with my dad?" Danny's brow shot up with a look of disbelief.

"Well, I'm going to spend time with Maddie. Jack just happens to be there." The evil grin stretched over Vlad's face, receiving a roll of the eyes from Danny.

"I'll call you later then." Godfather and godson hugged, and Vlad said his goodbyes to the others before he walked out the front door. "All right, boys, hand over those permission slips."

"Yes, Dad," Lex and Xander said with identical sighs as they turned to walk upstairs to their rooms.

"So are you happy to be home again?" Dash questioned as he led his lover to the kitchen to start on dinner.

"I had a wonderful time this weekend," Danny said, his grin growing wider, as he leaned up to kiss Dash's cheek. "But yeah, I'm happy to be back." He leaned into Dash's side while they walked. "Do you think it's a good idea to let them go on this spring break trip?"

"I'm surprised they managed to get enough money to go on a spring break trip," Dash admitted. "But I don't see any reason not to let them go. Unless you're going to worry the whole time."

"I doubt the chaperones can keep an eye on all the kids all the time," Danny said and stuck his tongue out at Dash.

"I doubt our boys will do anything stupid," Dash said as he started chopping the lettuce for a salad. "Let them go have a fun time with the rest of their class." Danny gave his lover a stubborn glare before giving in and agreeing to let the boys go on the trip to Florida.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Xander dropped into the seat next to Elden at the table in the back of the library. He released a sigh, rubbing his temples. Courtney and Bernice had whined about the fact that neither he nor Lex got them anything for Valentine's Day. Elden looked up from the book he was reading.

"Is everything okay?" Elden questioned as he placed a bookmark in the book and closed it.

"I just wish those girls would leave me alone," Xander mumbled. Then his face brightened as he reached into his book bag and pulled out a cookie tin. With a grin on his face, he slid it over to the other boy. Elden lifted the lid to find heart-shaped cookies.

"You made me cookies," Elden said, turning his eyes to the other boy.

"Well, I didn't get you chocolates for Valentine's Day, so I brought you these instead," Xander explained.

"I have such a sweet boyfriend," Elden said, kissing the other boy's cheek.

Xander frowned and kicked him under the table. "I wanted a real kiss, not just a peck."

"In that case, all you had to do was ask." Elden grinned before leaning over to place a light kiss to Xander's lips.

"How long have you two been sneaking off to this little corner to make out?" Lex asked when he found the two boys locking lips. They parted in an instant with guilty expressions on their faces.

"We hadn't even kissed until Valentine's Day," Xander answered, glaring at his brother. "And you said you would try to accept our relationship."

"I haven't tried to kick his ass yet, have I?" Lex snorted, turning his gaze to Elden. "But if you," he pointed at the boy sitting beside his brother, "hurt Xander in any way, I will make you pay."

"So do you still want to have that 'talk' with me?" Elden questioned, hoping the talk involved only words and no fists. Lex nodded in response.

"What talk?" Xander asked with a puzzled expression as he glanced between his brother and his boyfriend.

"Don't worry, Xan," Lex replied. "I just want to talk to him, get to know him a little better since he _is_ going to be your boyfriend and all." Xander's lips pursed together as his eyes narrowed at his brother. "This isn't some ploy to get him alone so I can beat him up. I promise."

"I'll see you later, Xander." Elden kissed his boyfriend on the forehead as he gathered his things. Then he followed Lex toward the front of the library.

"I wanted alone time with Elden," Xander mumbled, pouting as he watched them leave.

A noise near the bookshelf caught the boy's attention, and Xander turned his head to see what caused it. He discovered that section of the library empty save for himself, yet a random book lay on the floor. He blinked at it, finding it strange since the librarian always made sure the books were put back. Standing up, he walked over to the where the book lay on the floor.

"Guide to Paranormal Phenomenon on the Human Plane," Xander read the title of the book, his expression twisting in confusion. He couldn't remember any books like that in the library, and he had spent a lot of time in the library with Lex, Denise, and Elden.

The windows rattled, calling the boy's attention away from the lone book. Xander stared at the window, his brow knitting with bewilderment. He stepped away, and his back came flushed against the bookshelf. The rattling grew louder until the glass shattered, sending shards flying everywhere. Xander froze his eyes growing wide as he noticed the faint outline of a ghost. He screamed suddenly, grabbing his eye and falling to the floor when shards from the broken window embedded themselves in his face.

"Xander!" Lex and Elden shouted, running from the front of the library back to where the boy lay on the floor. Elden knelt down beside the boy and tried to take a look at his eye, but Xander refused to move his hand. Blood leaked out between the boy's fingers and spilled down his cheeks.

"Lex, he's bleeding," Elden said, lifting his gaze toward the older twin, who was looking for any sign to show how the window broke.

"Let's take him to the nurse's office," Lex said and helped Elden lift Xander to his feet.

"What did you little brats do to my library?" the librarian demanded when she saw the mess.

"We didn't do it!" Lex shouted as they guided the sobbing and bleeding boy toward the front of the library. They ignored the librarian's threats of telling the principal since they hadn't done anything wrong and getting to the nurse's office was more important. "Xander, tell me what happened."

"I don't know," Xander said between sobs. "The glass just broke all of a sudden." He kept pausing and trying to curl into a ball until Elden lifted him into his arms and carried him the rest of the way to the nurse's office.

"You have to remove your hand so I can take a look at it," the nurse said after five minutes of the boy whimpering in the chair. Xander slowly dropped his hand so the woman could look at his injury. She lifted his head and dabbed away some of the blood, making the boy flinch. "Well, the good news is the glass shards missed his eye," the nurse said. She picked up a pair of tweezers and fished out the shards: two next to his eye and three by his ear. "They caused a bit of bleeding but nothing too serious." The nurse finished cleaning the blood from Xander's face before she bandaged the cuts.

The boys thanked the nurse as they left the office. Elden wrapped an arm around Xander's shoulders and held the boy close to him. Lex took out a cell phone, a secret gift to him from Vlad. Xander wouldn't accept the one the elder half ghost bought for him.

* * *

Danny balanced the chair on its back legs as he sat at the kitchen table with his laptop open and waiting for him to start writing his next novel. For some reason, the ideas weren't coming to him, and he wanted to go curl up in bed with Dash, except his lover was currently at work, something he, himself, should be doing. The phone rang, surprising the man, who then phased through the chair which tipped over and landed on him.

"Ow," Danny mumbled as he went intangible, making the chair clatter on the kitchen floor. He stood and walked to where the phone hung on the wall. "Hello, you've reached the Baxter-Fenton household," Danny said, twirling his finger around the phone cord.

"Dad," Lex said; his voice full of seriousness. "There was an accident at school."

"An accident? What happened?" Danny's grip on the cord tightened as he grew worried.

"I don't really know. The glass in the library shattered, and a few shards hit Xander, but he's okay. It wasn't too serious."

"How did the glass shatter?" Danny asked after sighing in relief that neither of his boys were seriously hurt.

"Um, well, that's the thing," Lex said and then continued in a whisper. "There were no signs that anyone or anything broke the glass. I was thinking it might be a ghost."

"I'll take a look around and see if I find anything, but the ghost probably moved on by now." Danny paused for a moment before another thought entered his mind. "Lex, where did you get the phone?"

"Calling from the office. Gotta go!" Lex answered in a hurry and turned off his cell phone before Danny could ask more about it. He turned and grinned at his twin brother. "Dad's on it."

"Um, what?" Elden asked, looking confused at the cryptic message.

"Ah, it's nothing," Xander said as he grinned at his boyfriend. "Class should be starting soon, right?" He started walking down the hallway, pulling Elden along with him.

Lex rolled his eyes at the two. _At least they seem happy together_, he thought and turned to go meet with Denise before class started.

When school ended, Xander and Lex raced home, not bothering to wait for the bus or their friends. They found Danny sitting on couch in the living room with his laptop resting on his thighs as he rubbed his tired eyes.

"Did you find anything?" the twins asked in unison.

"No, no ghost present," Danny answered with a sigh. He set the laptop aside as he stood. "I found traces of a spiritual presence, but the ghost was long gone by the time I got there." He pulled his children into a tight embrace. "But I'm so glad neither of you were seriously hurt."

"Are you going to be staking out the school now?" Lex asked when Danny released them.

"You don't want me to? The ghost could return." Danny frowned. He didn't want the ghost attacking his children again.

"It would be embarrassing, you know," Lex replied, and Xander elbowed him with an angry look on his face. Danny knew how they felt though. He hadn't liked it when his parents went to stake out his school either. "But maybe you could give us some of those cool ghost hunting weapons our grandparents made. You know, just for protection and all."

"No way," Danny said, shaking his head. "Not until you've had more training in how to properly use them. Last time, you kept foaming your grandfather." Danny sat on the couch again, pulling the laptop into his lap. Lex frowned and stomped up to his bedroom, muttering about how it wasn't fair. Xander watched his brother for a moment and then took a seat beside Danny. He curled up to his father side to read the novel Danny was writing.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"I wonder where that ghost went," Xander grumbled to Lex as they sat next to each other on the bus heading toward the hotel. He was surprised Danny still allowed them to go on the trip to Florida when he had been attacked by a ghost only two months ago.

"It probably didn't show again since dad was keeping an eye on the school," Lex said, standing up a bit to see Denise in her seat.

"Why don't you just ask her out already?" Xander questioned. He noticed Lex constantly trying to catch a glimpse of Denise, though the two hadn't so much as hugged since the kiss on Valentine's day.

"We agreed to be just friends," Lex answered, collapsing back into his seat. "She doesn't want to become anything more than that." Frowning, Lex glared at the back of the bus seat in front of them, making Xander snicker. That caused Lex to become angrier so he punched his brother in the arm.

"Ow! That hurt!" Xander complained, rubbing the sore spot.

"Aw! Where's the brotherly love?" Danielle asked with a giggle as she popped up from behind the twins.

"We left it back in Amity Park," they answered and shot a glare at the other.

"Right," Danielle said, rolling her eyes at them. "Xander, do you think you can get Elden to introduce me to his band mates?" She gave the younger twin her best pleading look complete with puppy dog eyes. Xander responded with a blank expression.

"I heard from Denise who heard from Sandra that Danielle stopped having a crush on you and started crushing on the drummer in Elden's band," Lex explained in a higher pitched voice and pretended to flip his hair like a girl.

"Lex!" Danielle whined and slapped the boy on his head.

"It's true though." Lex swatted at her hand, and she pouted.

"I'll ask him about it," Xander said, smiling at the younger girl. Danielle beamed happily before she flopped back in her seat.

A few more minutes passed before they reached the hotel, and everyone filed off the bus. Once everyone grabbed their bags, the group entered into the hotel where the teenagers settled down, waiting for their room assignments. After getting their room assignments, the twins met up with their friends.

"I've got room 303," Lex announced, checking the number taped onto his key card.

"Mine's 305," Xander said, holding up his number.

"Hey, we're rooming together," Elden said as he showed his key card to the other boy.

Lex watched as Elden wrapped his arm around Xander's shoulders and sent a grin toward the older twin. He frowned, feeling uneasy about the arrangement but didn't call attention to the couple.

"Come on, Xander," Elden said hooking arms with the boy as they walked toward the elevator. "I want to hurry and put our stuff away so we can hit the beach."

"We'll see you girls later," Lex said, following his brother. As the elevator rose to the third floor, Lex glanced at the couple. His eye twitched when he saw the happy couple snuggled into each other's arms with Xander nuzzling his head into Elden's neck. "Just because you're boyfriends doesn't mean you can… do stuff… with each other." His statement made the couple pull away.

"What? Do you think we're going to 'get it on' as soon as the door closes?" Xander demanded with an angry look. He even did the quotes with his fingers.

"We aren't planning on doing anything. I promise." Elden grinned.

"Why can't you trust Elden?" Xander wanted to know.

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open before Lex could answer. Elden took hold of Xander's hand, and they walked down the hallway toward their room. When he found the right number, he slipped the key card into the slot and opened the door. Without so much as a wave, Xander followed Elden into the room.

"Does your brother really think we'd have sex or something?" Elden questioned, closing the door.

"He just likes playing the protector. He always tries to look out for me even when he doesn't need to," Xander replied with a shrug as he set his suitcase next to one bed. "I'm going to get changed."

Xander opened his suitcase and retrieved his trunks before heading into the bathroom. Elden flopped onto the other bed while waiting for his boyfriend. When he saw that there were two beds, Elden released a sigh of relief. As much as he liked Xander, he wasn't comfortable with the idea of moving their relationship to the "next level," which he suspected was exactly what Lex feared would happen with them sharing a room.

"Xander, do you…" Elden trailed off when he saw Xander walk out of the bathroom. Realizing his boyfriend wore considerably less clothing than usual, Elden's breath caught in his throat. His eyes traveled slowly down Xander's neck to his exposed chest, pausing there for a moment, and then lowering to his stomach. Before he went any farther, he ripped his eyes away. "Sorry," Elden muttered as the blood rushed to his cheeks.

"No, no, it's okay," Xander said with his voice small and almost inaudible. He blushed, his face growing redder than the Elden's flushed cheeks. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it on. "Go get dressed," Xander ordered, pointing to the bathroom. "I don't want my brother thinking we're making out in here." Elden grumbled as he went to the bathroom to change. Once he had his swimming trunks on, they headed down to Lex's room before going to meet with the girls to go to the beach.

* * *

Back in Amity Park, Danny lay flat on his stomach in bed with his laptop before him. "Ah, I can't think!" he exclaimed before burying his face into the mattress.

"So take a break," Dash suggested, laughing at his lover. "The kids are away, and I have today off." Dash slid his hands up Danny's back, pushing the shirt up to reveal the pale flesh beneath it.

"I have a deadline to meet," Danny muttered, turning his head so his lover could hear him clearly. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of Dash's hands on his body for a brief moment before he returned to staring at the blank screen.

"What happened to that ghost?" Dash questioned. He was worried about the safety of his sons. He didn't want another incident like the one in the library to happen again.

"No traces of him," Danny replied with a sigh. He held his finger down on one letter of the keyboard, watching the letters fill up the line until he grew bored and deleted the row. "I hope it doesn't come back though." He rested his chin in his hand. "I'm so tired of fighting ghosts. I just want to sit back and relax. Oh, and get this next novel finished."

"I can think of something better," Dash said as he slid his hands down toward the waist band of his lover's pants. Danny sighed before he rolled over to face his lover.

"Dash, I really have to get this novel started." Danny grabbed Dash's hands and pulled them away from his body. "I don't have time for any sex-capades right now."

"Are you sure you don't want to take a little break before starting?" Dash smirked as he freed one hand. He reached down and hooked his fingers around the waistline of Danny's black pajama pants.

"I'm already behind on the deadline. It's in two weeks and I don't even have one word written." Danny pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

"I only have today off," Dash said, sounding a little disappointed with that fact. Work would keep him busy for the next few months, and he would most likely be too tired to fool around until he had another break. "I work the rest of the week and then the boys will be back from the trip." He paused to think as he ran his hand over the flesh of his lover's abdomen. "There's a ghost out there, and you let the boys go to Florida. I'm surprised you didn't get all paranoid about it."

"I really doubt a ghost is going to follow our boys all the way to Florida," Danny said, and Dash rolled his eyes. "And stop bringing that ghost up. I don't want to think about it right now. The ghost probably moved on by now. I hope." Danny added the last two words softly.

"All right," Dash said with a sigh as he climbed off the bed. "I'll go make some breakfast. Maybe having some food in your belly will help you think." He grinned and dodged the pillow Danny threw at him before leaving the bedroom.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Poor Xander," Sandra commented as she watched Bernice and Courtney drag the younger twin away from Elden. She overheard the girls say something about Elden being "evil" and how he would "hinder Xander's popularity." Xander complained, struggling to escape, but the girls already had their claws in him. Elden looked disappointed while Lex glared at the two girls though he looked relieved that they hadn't tried to drag him away with them. Lex leaned over and whispered something to Elden before they turned and walked the other way. Sandra blinked surprised that they didn't go to rescue the poor boy.

"Too much time under the sun and we'll burn," said the girl lying on a towel beside Sandra. She rolled onto her back and sat up as she pulled her long blonde hair into a ponytail. "Do you want to go get something to eat?"

"Sure!" Sandra grinned, still surprised that Jessica Reed, one of the most popular girls in their school, wanted to hang out with her. Sandra pulled on a pair of Capri pants while Jessica slipped on a short blue skirt to match her bikini since neither of them wanted to walk around in only their bikinis. After folding their towels, they dumped them into their bags before putting on their sandals. They walked up the beach to the sidewalk and headed toward the little strip of shops near their hotel to find a place to eat.

While they walked, Jessica released a whistle at one of the people they passed. Sandra snapped her head around to see who and caught sight of a rather attractive bleached blond boy with a nice muscular body. He had his hands on a girl's hips, holding the brunette close to him, as they kissed.

"Yeah, that guy is pretty cute," Sandra said, turning her gaze back to the girl at her side. "Too bad he's already got a girlfriend."

"Oh, I wasn't whistling at the guy," Jessica said and grinned.

"Oh," Sandra responded lamely. Then she blinked wide eyes, trying to absorb what the other girl meant by that statement.

"Don't take everything so seriously." Jessica laughed. "How about this place?" She pointed to a small restaurant near an ice cream parlor. Sandra shrugged, not caring where they ate as long as the food was good. Jessica grabbed the other girl's hand and pulled her into the restaurant. When they entered, a loud whistle went off and people applauded.

"You two are our hundredth customers today," announced one of the waiters, wearing a name tag with "Andrew" in big black letters. "We only do this during spring break. Being our hundredth customer means you can get a free meal if you kiss."

"What?" Sandra asked, blinking at the man. Jessica looked stunned and confused too. "Maybe we should go somewhere else," she whispered to the other girl, the situation making her feel uncomfortable. Everyone sitting near the entrance of the restaurant was staring at them.

"Oh, come on! We'll get a free meal, and all we have to do is kiss," Jessica said. Kissing another girl didn't bother her, but she could see a nervous look in Sandra's eyes. "But if it bugs you that much, we don't have to."

Sandra glanced around at all the expectant stares, and quite a few boys ogling the two girls, and she felt butterflies flutter inside her. She had nothing against homosexuals. After all, Dash and Danny were gay, and she loved both of her uncles to death. But she never expected to find herself in a situation where she had the opportunity to kiss someone of the same gender. Her gaze returned to the other girl, who looked like she was ready to just leave the restaurant and seek out a new one.

"I guess there's no harm to it," Sandra finally said, giving a small shrug. "And we do get a free meal."

A tense silence fell over the entire restaurant as the two girls leaned toward each other. Lips met, and Jessica raised a hand to place on the back of the other girl's neck and drew her closer. The loud applause echoed through the restaurant along with whistles and catcalls. A flash of light caught the girls' attentions, and they split apart in an instant followed by groans of disappointment. They turned to the waiter, who now held a Polaroid in his hand.

"Follow me," Andrew said, leading the way to a table after he grabbed two menus. "You can choose anything on the lunch menu." Jessica and Sandra slid into the booth, each taking one of the menus. "Your waiter should be out in a moment to take your drink orders." Andrew left them alone to look over the menus. Sandra glanced around the restaurant and noticed some of the boys were watching them.

"That kiss didn't make you feel weird or anything, did it?" Jessica asked, worried that it would affect her friendship with the other girl.

"What?" Sandra turned her gaze back to Jessica. "Oh, no, not at all." She shook her head and looked at the menu. "So what do you think looks good?"

"We could share a small pizza," Jessica suggested. "Hawaiian sounds good."

"Yeah, yeah, that does look good." Sandra grinned at her friend. Inside, she was panicking about the kiss. It had made her feel weird but in a good way. She had felt warm and excited, and she hadn't wanted it to end even though she knew it was only to get a free meal.

"Hello, ladies," their waiter said when he finally arrived. "I'm Kevin, and I'll be your waiter. What can I get you to drink?"

"I – I'll just have water," Sandra said, keeping her gaze on the menu.

"And I'll have a Diet Coke," Jessica said.

"Is Diet Pepsi okay?" Kevin asked as he wrote the beverage order down.

"Ah, no, in that case, I'll have water as well," Jessica replied. "And we'd like to order a small Hawaiian pizza."

"Okay," Kevin said, noting their order. "I'll be right back with your drinks." He started to walk off when he turned back to them. "By the way, you two make a very hot couple," he whispered with a wink and then left them.

"They – They think we're a couple?" Sandra stuttered as a blush colored her cheeks.

"Maybe?" Jessica shrugged; her brow knitting. Kevin returned moments later with their glasses of water and retrieved the menus. "But it really doesn't matter what they think," Jessica said as she took a sip of water. "Who cares if they think we're together? We're not going to be here for very long."

"Yeah, that's true." Sandra felt a little more relieved, but she couldn't keep her mind off that kiss. Jessica changed the topic, and they talked about school and other subjects until the pizza came. Once they finished lunch they decided to check out some of the shops and see if there was anything they wanted to buy.

Later that day, now carrying bags of clothes with them, the two girls returned to the hotel. As they walked through the lobby, Sandra noticed a boy about a year or two older than they staring at Jessica. Since he wasn't looking where he was going, he tripped over a suitcase and stumbled about until he fell into the fountain decorating the lobby right before the entrance. Sandra held back her snickers until they entered an empty elevator and then let her laughter loose.

"Did you see that guy?" Sandra asked between fits of giggles as they stepped off the elevator when it reached the fourth floor. She walked toward her hotel room with Jessica at her side. "He tripped over a suitcase and fell into the fountain because he kept staring at you."

"It's kind of lost its amusement for me," Jessica said with a shrug. She had seen enough boys do stupid things all because she was "so beautiful." She hated the way boys acted around her, and it began to make her a little annoyed.

"Oh," Sandra mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed. She unlocked the door to her room and held it open for the other girl. Jessica walked in, glancing around the room and finding it to look the same as her hotel room, before she sat on one of the beds. "I've been wondering a lot lately," Sandra said as she took a seat beside the other girl. "Why did you start hanging out with me?"

"Well, I noticed my cousin hanging out with your group," Jessica replied, staring out the window over the other girl's shoulder. "And I guess I was a little curious about what he saw in you guys."

"Your cousin?" Sandra's brow rose in an expression of confusion.

"Yeah, Elden's my cousin. We don't really speak a lot, but we see each other a couple of times when we have gigs on the same nights." Jessica laughed when Sandra continued to look puzzled. "I'm a singer like Elden. You should come see my band sometime."

"I'd love to!" Sandra grinned, and Jessica's face lit up happily. "But I still don't understand why you wanted to hang out with me. I'm not pretty and popular like you."

"Being pretty is so overrated." Jessica rolled her eyes. "Besides you are pretty." She held back a giggle upon seeing the other girl blush. "Maybe the guys don't see it, but they're all blind idiots anyway. And you're smart. And I like spending time with you. You make me laugh." Jessica scooted a little closer to the other girl, but Sandra didn't seem to notice. She opened her mouth to say something when the door to the room banged open, making them both jump.

"Sandra!" Danielle shouted as she rushed into the room. She paused in mid-step upon noticing the blonde girl sitting on the bed, completely shocked at seeing her. Jessica gave a weak grin as she waved a little. "Um, I was going to ask if you wanted to spy on Lex and Denise," Danielle said after getting over her shock. "But now I want to ask: since when are you two friends?"

"Since, um, February," Sandra answered. "So what's this about spying on Lex and Denise?"

"I just saw them coming back from getting ice cream," Danielle answered with excitement in her voice.

"Oh, I want to see if they get together!" Sandra stood, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Aw, but I thought we were going to hang out together," Jessica complained with a pout.

"We can still hang out, and afterwards, um," Sandra said, pausing to think of something to convince Jessica to join them. "Afterwards we can buy lots of chocolates and come back here to watch movies all night long."

"I guess that works. Let's go!" Jessica jumped off the bed, grabbing Sandra's hand, as she headed for the door with Danielle following behind them. The trio of girls took an elevator down to the lobby, and then Danielle led the way to where she last saw Lex and Denise.

"That place had the best ice cream I've ever had," they heard Denise say as she walked through the hotel lobby with Lex.

"Didn't you think it was strange that Danielle ran away the moment she saw us?" Lex asked; his brow knitting with a puzzled look.

"Maybe she was running away from someone else," Denise said as she shrugged. She glanced at Lex, but he seemed to have his mind on other things. "What's wrong, Lex?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Lex mumbled. He plopped onto one of the benches in the lobby, and Denise sat down beside him. "I just don't like that Xander's sharing a room with Elden."

"You're not still worrying about that fight, are you?" Denise placed a hand over the boy's hand. Lex lifted his gaze toward the girl at his side. "I've known Elden for a while. He's a really nice boy. He wouldn't hurt anyone. He-"

"What?" Lex's brow creased with worry when Denise didn't continue.

"I don't even know all the details. All I know is that he really hates when people beat on others over something like their sexuality or because they aren't considered cool or some other stupid reason. Don't judge Elden before you even get to know him."

"I already promised Xander I wouldn't bring that fight up anymore," Lex said, turning his hand over and lacing his fingers with Denise's fingers. "I just don't want them rushing into something they aren't ready for yet."

"What do you mean?" Denise asked, blinking with a blank look on her face.

"Um, well," Lex mumbled as he turned his head away. "Xander and Elden are sort of together now."

"Aw, I'm so happy for them!" Denise squealed happily. "I was wondering when they would get together. Why didn't they ever tell us?"

"I don't know. They wanted to keep it a secret, I guess." Lex rolled his shoulders in a tiny shrug. Thinking about that Valentine's Day brought another memory to the front of Lex's mind, and he glanced toward the girl beside him, still holding his hand. "A-About Valentine's Day," Lex mumbled, reaching up with his other hand to scratch the back of his neck.

"You mean the kiss?" Denise blushed at the memory.

"I know we said we would just stay as friends, but," Lex said but couldn't get the rest of the words out of his mouth. When he looked at Denise, his mouth dried and his palms grew sweaty.

"Did - Did you want to become something more than friends?" Denise asked, her hand tightening in Lex's hold. They stared into each other's eyes, both afraid to be the first to admit their feelings.

"Come on! Make with the kissing already!" Danielle exclaimed from their hiding spot behind some plants. Lex and Denise both blushed as they shot away from each other, attempting to look innocent but failing completely. The three girls came out of hiding and joined the other two teens on the bench, forcing Denise to sit next to Lex.

"So are you two going to start dating?" Sandra questioned with a smirk.

"Well, um," the pair mumbled, blushing when they exchanged a glance.

"Oh come on! You two are so totally crushing on each other," Danielle said from the other end of the bench. "You should hook up!"

"Yeah, you two would make a great couple," Jessica said, agreeing with the others. "Oh, and I can't wait to see the look on Bernice and Courtney's faces when they discover the 'so hot and adorable' Rutherford twins are both taken."

"Wait! I thought you were friends with them," Sandra said, confusion playing in her eyes.

"In their dreams!" Jessica laughed at the thought of being friends with those two girls. "They're like leeches, grabbing onto the nearest popular person just to make themselves popular. It's pretty sickening. That's another reason I like hanging out with you more." She grinned at Sandra. "You don't give into the trendy stuff, but you don't try hard to be different." Sandra blushed in embarrassment.

"Does anyone else wonder where Xander and Elden are?" Danielle asked, pouting because Lex and Denise refused to say they would start dating. The other four then realized the other two boys had been missing since they all split up after going to the beach.

* * *

Xander emerged from the bathroom, wearing a clean pair of jeans and a towel over his head. After rubbing his hair one last time in an attempt to dry it, he dropped the fluffy white towel onto the growing pile of dirty laundry. A tired sigh escaped him as he plopped onto the bed, sitting next to his boyfriend.

"I hope I never have kids," Xander muttered in a grumpy voice. "At least not boys. Those little devils! Can you believe those brats pelted us with water balloons?"

"Mm," Elden replied, completely devoid of interest. He stared at the television, moving the character on screen via the game controller.

"Are you even paying attention to me?" Xander asked, frowning at his boyfriend.

"Nope. Paying attention to the game. Must beat the – Damn aliens!" Elden muttered with vehemence lacing his voice.

"Come on, Elden," Xander complained, frowning as he watched the game with detached interest. "I don't want to sit up here the whole time watching you play videogames." He frowned more when Elden continued to ignore him. He poked at Elden's side. "Let's go find the others."

"Come on. It's Alien Destruction II. I want to beat it," Elden argued, swatting away his boyfriend's hand.

Sighing, Xander climbed off the bed. He walked across the room, purposely walking in front of the television. It didn't escape his attention that Elden actually looked away from the game. After searching through some of the CDs that he brought with him, Xander put one in the CD player. He closed his eyes and started swaying to the music. A moment later, he felt arms wrap around his waist and smirked.

"That was so cheating," Elden whispered into his ear.

Xander turned in the other boy's arms. "It got you to turn off the game." He smirked until Elden started tickling him. "Hey! No! Stop!" he gasped up between giggles.

"Consider it payback," Elden teased. After he had reduced his boyfriend to a squirming mass of laughter, Elden finally stopped. He leaned in, stealing a tender kiss from Xander. "Wouldn't your brother get mad if he knew we were up here fooling around?"

"Yeah, probably," Xander sighed as he pulled away from Elden. He walked over to his suitcase and grabbed a clean shirt, pulling it on over his head. Something tickled his mind as he turned back to his boyfriend. Frowning, Xander took Elden's hand and pulled him over to the bed again. "How come you never let me meet your family?" he asked the question that had been bugging him since Christmas Eve.

"Trust me. You don't want to meet them," Elden muttered as a dark look entered his eyes. He pulled his hand free from Xander's hold and walked over to the CD player, turning off the music.

Xander frowned at his boyfriend. "You never tell me anything about your family," he mumbled. He walked over to Elden and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm worried."

"Please just leave it alone, Xan," Elden ordered firmly. He wouldn't look at his boyfriend.

"That just makes me even more worried!" Xander argued, forcing Elden to turn and face him. "Whatever it is it can't be that bad." He gave Elden a shake when the other boy rolled his eyes. "My mother tried to kill me. Twice! She set our apartment on fire. Lex and I were lucky to survive. She hated us. And our father left the moment he found out she was pregnant with us. So tell me why you won't tell me anything about your family."

"My dad raped me!" Elden shouted.

The breath caught in Xander's throat as he stared at his boyfriend. He had imagined a million different answers Elden could give him, but this was far beyond anything he could think up. "I-" Xander swallowed, trying to think of what to say. "I'm so sorry."

Elden finally looked back at him. "I didn't want you to know," he whispered.

"It's not going to change the way I think about you or how I feel about you." Xander wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, pulling him into a comforting embrace. "I can't believe he would do such a thing to you."

Sighing, Elden ran his hand through Xander's hair. "I guess we both have troubled pasts," he mumbled, frowning sadly.

_But at least I don't have to worry about my mother anymore_, Xander thought, squeezing his arms around his boyfriend. "When – How often has it happened?"

"It was only once," Elden answered as he pulled out of Xander's hold. He took his boyfriend's hand and led him back to the bed. "He got drunk one night a few years ago after he got fired. I can't remember what I did, but I made him mad about something or other. He started beat on me and then…" He trailed off into silence.

Xander didn't need to hear anymore. The images playing in his mind made his stomach churn in disgust. Even with his own tragic history, he couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of a father taking advantage of his child like that. "If he ever tries anything like that again, I want you to come to my house. I don't want him to hurt you like that again."

"I promise I will," Elden said, nodding. He dropped onto the bed, pulling his boyfriend down beside him. Xander rolled over and wrapped his arms around the other boy. They lay in silence, each lost in their own thoughts before they drifted off to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Just so you know," Danny mumbled as he frowned with his arms crossed over his chest, "I was not scared."

"Right. That explains the clinging and the whimpering." Dash grinned when his lover's face reddened in embarrassment. "You can admit when you're scared. Lots of people got scared when they saw that movie."

"For the last time, I wasn't scared!" Danny smacked the man's arm in anger. "Don't you know anything? I was just 'pretending' to be scared so I could cuddle with you in the dark theater. But you had to be stupid and laugh at me instead."

"That was a pretty dumb idea." Dash snorted, rolling his eyes. "You could have just asked, and I would have cuddled with you." He stopped walking and turned to his grumpy lover. "Why are you walking me to work?"

"Because I wanted to convince you that the movie didn't scare me," Danny mumbled and averted his gaze.

"You liar! That's not the reason at all." Dash glared at the other man. Danny's expression changed to one of panic since he knew his lover would figure out his reason soon. "Oh, I get it. When does she come over?"

"Noon," Danny muttered as he hung his head, and his shoulders drooped.

Dash dropped a hand on Danny's head and ruffled the raven locks. "You can't run away from it, Danny. Just tell her you're having some problems getting inspired. I'm sure she'd understand. You've given them a lot of best sellers already."

Danny stepped closer and rested his head against the man's shoulder, ignoring the stares of the people passing them. "What if I really have run out of ideas? What if my career as a writer has come to an end?"

"Maybe you just need to take a break from writing," Dash suggested as he gave his lover a gentle squeeze. "Perhaps a little more ghost hunting will give you some new ideas." He rubbed the other man's back, making him relax and causing the tension in his muscles to melt away.

As he sighed, a wisp of blue left Danny's open mouth. He jerked out of the man's hold, scanning the crowd of people walking along the street. "Speaking of ghosts," Danny mumbled with a sigh. "I'll see you after work." He gave his lover a quick kiss on the cheek before jogging down the street to find the one who set off his ghost sense.

Dash frowned as he watched the man disappear within the crowd. _The restaurant should be fine even if I'm a little late_, he thought before chasing after Danny. He couldn't get rid of the sense of worry that washed over him. Something didn't feel quite right. _Besides I own it. No one can yell at me for being late_.

Danny followed the faint trace of a ghost, leading him farther away from Dash's restaurant. But no ghost could be found. The streets became less crowded, and the area became colder. Danny slowed his jog to a walk as he turned the corner and entered a small alleyway. Water dripped from the roofs high above him, splattering upon his exposed flesh and chilling him to the bone. Danny wrapped his arms around himself, shivering a little from the cold.

"Where is that stupid ghost?" Danny grumbled, his eyes sweeping over the area. A noise from behind him echoed through the alleyway, and he spun around to look for the source. He caught a flash of silver and quickly raised his arms to block the object aimed for his head. Pain raced through him as something sliced into his arm. He stumbled backwards before falling to the damp ground.

Dash turned the corner in time to see his lover drop, and he froze at the sight of the man lying upon the brick alleyway. Blood oozed from the wound along the pale flesh of Danny's arm, creating a pool on the dirty ground beneath him. The sound of something clattering to the ground brought him out of his shock. Dash's gaze drifted to the other person in the alleyway.

The boy turned to Dash with a wicked smirk on his face. His green eyes flashed red, and Dash swallowed thickly. He recognized the boy but didn't want to believe it. Why would a student from his sons' school attack Danny? His eyes narrowed in rage. Dash grabbed the boy by his shirt and slammed him against the wall of one building.

"You little shit!" Dash shouted, baring his teeth in a vicious snarl. "Did you think you could hurt my husband and get away with it?"

"Oh, I'm planning to do a lot worse to him," the boy answered. The voice caught Dash off guard. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He knew it didn't belong to the boy. The green eyes turned red as some force threw Dash off the boy, making him stumble over the short distance of the alleyway into the other building. Then the boy ran before Dash could gather his wits again. He started to run after him when a groan called him back to his lover.

"Danny," Dash whispered as he rushed over and knelt beside the other man.

Danny groaned again, his brow wrinkling in an expression of pain as he cradled his injured arm to his chest. He started to sit up, but the man pushed him back onto the ground.

"Stay still," Dash ordered. "Were you hurt anywhere else?" He looked over the wounded arm and winced at the deep cut.

"I'm fine, Dash," Danny said, though he grimaced at the stinging sensation from the open wound.

"That cut is going to need stitches." Dash lifted his lover into his arms, being careful not to jar the injury too much. He carried Danny to the restaurant where he could get a ride to the hospital using the company car.

After driving to the hospital, the doctors made Dash stay out in the lobby while they stitched the wound on Danny's arm. Dash paced around the waiting room. He hated doing nothing to help his lover when he got injured. As soon as the doctor came out again, Dash bombarded him with questions concerning his lover's injury.

"Calm down, Mr. Baxter," the doctor said, trying to seem like a composed doctor, but he had difficulties accomplishing that with someone like Dash looming over him demanding answers. "Mr. Fenton is all right. The wound wasn't too deep. I gave him some pain medication so he might seem a little out of it for a few hours."

"Can I see him?" Dash asked a little impatiently.

"Of course," the doctor answered with a smile. "The nurse is bringing him out in a moment."

"Does that mean he can go home?"

"Yes. The injury wasn't too serious so we don't need to keep him overnight or anything. I suggest that he not use his left arm too much, or he might risk opening the wound again."

Dash nodded in understanding. Minutes after the doctor finished talking to him, a nurse came out helping Danny walk. The man stumbled a little until he saw Dash; then he ran toward his loved and leaped into his arms.

"Dash! Kiss my wound to make it better!" Danny exclaimed in a whiny voice, holding his arm up for his lover to kiss.

Dash glanced at the nurse, confused by the way the strange way his lover acted. "I thought the pain meds would make him seem a bit out of it, not make him hyper."

"People react differently," the nurse responded, shrugging before she walked off to deal with other patients.

"Come on, Danny. Time to go home," Dash announced, setting the man on his feet. Danny latched onto his arm with a giggle as Dash guided him out of the hospital. Dash sighed when he realized he would have to skip work for that day so he could take care of Danny. He thought it would be a bad idea to leave his lover home alone while hyped up on pain medication. He could already imagine the damage to the house that Danny might do while on the pain medication. After helping Danny into the car, Dash walked around to the other side of the car. "This is going to be a long few hours," he mumbled as he climbed into the car.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Dash asked, setting the bowl of soup down on the night stand as he sat on the bed.

"I feel like I got hit in the head by a four hundred pound purple back gorilla," Danny grumbled with his eyes still clamped shut as he hugged a pillow to his chest. "I hate pain killers."

"I'm not too fond of you being on pain killers either." Dash cringed at the memory of the previous day's events. _Danny hyped up on pain killers is not fun to deal with_, the man thought. "I brought you something to eat."

Danny sniffed the air and groaned before burying his head under a pillow.

"Danny, you have to eat." Dash pried the pillow away from his lover.

"You know I hate chicken noodle soup," Danny argued. He frowned when Dash glared at him. "I'm not sick! You can't say I have to eat it because it'll make me better."

"Fine. You can make your own breakfast if you're so healthy. Unfortunately, I can't stay here and play doctor for you today. My staff made some mistakes yesterday that need to be cleared up so I have to go in to work." Dash sighed as he stood. He picked up the bowl before walking to the door of their bedroom. When he reached the door, he paused but didn't turn to face his lover. "I think we should take Lex off the football team."

"Why?" Danny asked, sitting up in bed with a confused expression on his face. He didn't understand Dash's sudden decision. His lover had been ecstatic when Lex made the football team. Both of them enjoyed going to the games to watch their son play. He heard the other man sigh before he turned to face him.

"The person who attacked you yesterday is on the team," Dash answered.

"The ghost could have just possessed him or something," Danny suggested, wanting some kind of excuse to keep Lex on the football team. He knew Lex would hate them for making him quit the team.

"If he was, the ghost could still be possessing him or hanging around him waiting to use him to attack our family," Dash argued.

"Who was it?" Danny asked, frowning at his lover. "And I'm capable of taking care of a ghost."

"It didn't seem that way yesterday when you got your arm slit open. Or when our boys' mother possessed you," Dash yelled.

"So I was caught off guard. It happens sometimes, but it's nothing I can't handle." Danny glared at his lover and balled his hands into fists. "I'm not weak. I'll take down any ghost that threatens our family."

"I know you're not." Dash sighed in frustration as he pulled at his hair. "I just can't stand to see you get hurt because some ghost catches you off guard."

"You haven't seen the worst of it," Danny muttered mostly to himself.

"The worst of it?" Dash shouted. "So you have been keeping secrets! Tell me about these 'worst of it' ghost attacks." Instead of giving an answer, Danny flopped back on the bed, throwing the covers over himself and curling up in the little cocoon. "Fenton!" Dash barked, making the lump under the covers flinch. "Why won't you talk about them?"

"I didn't want you to be worried about me," Danny shouted. "I've gotten a lot stronger over the years so you don't need to get all concerned about me because of a few little slip ups."

"Danny, I worry about you all the time because of those damned ghosts," Dash said in a calmer voice as he walked across the room to sit on the bed again. "Every time a new ghost pops up, I fear that maybe this one might be stronger than you, maybe this one can beat you. I don't want to lose you to a ghost."

"You're not going to lose me." Danny pulled the covers away from his face to stare at the man. "I'm not going to lose to a ghost."

"I know, but I can't help worrying about you." Dash leaned down and kissed Danny on the forehead. "I have to leave now or I'll be late for work."

Danny pulled Dash down for another kiss before watching his lover exit their bedroom. Once Dash had left, Danny laid back and curled up again, staring at the stitched up scar on his arm with a frown on his face. Ten long minutes of silence passed before he realized Dash hadn't told him which boy on the football team had been possessed by the ghost that attacked him.

For the rest of the week, Dash wouldn't stop pestering his lover until Danny finally told about all the ghost attacks he had been keeping secret. Dash was not pleased when he had heard all of them, but he could see why Danny hadn't told him about them.

* * *

"I can't believe our vacation's over already," Lex complained, glaring out the window of the bus dropping the freshmen class off at their houses. When he didn't get any kind of response, he turned to look at his twin, who wore a frown on his face. "What's up with you?"

"I don't want Elden to go home," Xander mumbled.

"Xan, he's not a pet. You can't keep him. Our fathers would never allow that," Lex teased, ruffling his brother's hair.

"That's not funny!" Xander smacked the hand away, continuing to frown. He almost told Lex why he didn't want Elden to go home, but he decided it was best not to talk about it in a crowded bus. He hated the thought of Elden returning home to that man who claimed to be his father. But he was afraid to tell anyone what he now knew because he didn't want to cause more pain for Elden if it somehow got back to his father.

"Why are you so upset?" Lex prodded his brother, poking him in the side. "You're the one who's actually dating the person he likes."

"You could date Denise if you asked her out," Xander grumbled, kicking his brother's leg in retaliation to the poking. "It's not like she wouldn't say yes. You two need to get over that 'but we said we'd just be friends' thing. It's so obvious you two like each other."

Lex reached out to grab his brother in a head lock when the bus made a sudden stop. Xander jumped out of his seat before his twin could grab him and raced to the front of the bus. Sighing, Lex stood and followed his brother off the bus. Their teacher handed off their bags to them before he climbed back onto the bus. The twins waved to their friends as the bus pulled away from the curb. Then they ran up the walkway to the two-story house. Lex was searching his pockets for his key when the front door swung open.

"How was Florida?" Danny asked, holding the door wide open for the twins to enter.

"It was a lot of fun," Lex answered as he followed Xander into the house. "We spent most of the time going to the beach, well except for-" The rest of his statement got cut off when Xander turned around and elbowed his twin in the ribs.

"Except for what?" Danny glared down at his sons, waiting for an answer.

"Except for when the girls dragged us to a mall to go shopping," Xander answered, forcing a grin onto his face.

"Right." Danny gave them the "I know you're not telling me the whole truth" look. "You two should go get unpacked. Xan, do you want to help me make dinner after you finish?"

"Sure," Xander replied with a real smile before racing up the stairs behind Lex. Shaking his head, Danny walked back into the kitchen to start making dinner.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Will you get up already?" Dash demanded, kicking the mattress of their king-sized bed. His lover mumbled in his sleep before rolling over and drawing the covers over his head. "Danny, I don't want to play this little game. Get up!"

"Can't we cancel?" Danny muttered tiredly.

"We had this planned since Monday. You had five days notice. Maybe you shouldn't have stayed up all night," Dash said with his hands on his hips as he glared at the lump his lover made beneath the navy blue sheets.

"But I was trying to think of what to write for my new novel. I'm already far behind schedule."

"I told you to take a break from all of that." Dash frowned when he received a grumble in response. "Danny, it's not fair that the boys got to meet your parents and not meet my mother. We are going. That's final. Now get that scrawny ass of yours out of this bed!"

"Or what?" Danny muttered with annoyance clear in his voice.

Dash's eye twitched at the lame and clichéd comeback. Bending over, he grabbed the edges of the sheets and ripped them off the bed. His lover yelped as he curled into a tight ball, trying to stay warm.

"Fenton!" Dash growled and shoved the other man's body off the bed. A thud followed when Danny fell to the floor with a mutter of "Ow." Dash threw the sheets back onto the bed as he walked around to the other side. "Get up and get dressed so that we can leave."

Danny glared at the man standing before him. He climbed to his feet and then walked into the bathroom to take a shower. When the freezing blast hit him, he let out a yelp, jumping back and banging his elbow hard on the wall.

"That's what you get for not getting up earlier," Dash said from where he stood, leaning against the doorframe. "The boys and I used up all the hot water when we took our showers."

Danny stuck his tongue out at Dash even though he knew his lover couldn't see it through the sliding door of the shower. Grabbing the bottle of shampoo and conditioner, he quickly washed his hair, trying to make his shower as fast as possible. When he stepped out of the shower, he found Dash still standing in the doorway.

"You're always there when I finish showering," Danny commented as he wrapped a towel around his waist.

"I can't help it if you look incredibly sexy when you're all naked and wet." Dash smirked at the man before pulling him closer for a kiss.

"Weren't you the one who was in such a rush to leave?" Danny mumbled against Dash's lips.

"Man, I thought you were waking him up so that we could leave, not so that the two of you could make out!" Lex shouted after poking his head into his parents' bathroom.

"You get dressed. We'll be waiting in the car," Dash told his lover, giving him a quick peck on the lips before ushering their son from the bathroom.

After drying off, Danny ran a brush through his wet locks and exited the bathroom. He headed to the closet to search for some clean clothes to wear. As he pulled up the zipper on his pants, he heard a creak in the hallway. Danny walked over to the door and peeked out to see what had caused the noise.

"Xander," Danny said with his brow creasing as he stared at the younger of his two children. "Shouldn't you be waiting in the car with the others?"

"I, um, I thought I forgot something. I was wrong." Xander forced a laugh before racing down the stairs.

Danny frowned, wondering what was wrong with his son. Xander had been acting a bit strange even since spring break, like he was hiding something. Had something happened when the boys were in Florida? But if something had happened, why wouldn't Xander talk to him?

Sighing, Danny grabbed a shirt from the closet and pulled it on as he left the room. He trotted down the stairs, snatching the keys to the house off the hook by the door. After locking the front door, he got into the car. He glanced over his shoulder at Xander, who stared out the window, as Dash pulled the car out of the driveway.

"So, boys, how was that trip to Florida?" Danny asked, hoping to pry some information out of the young boy.

"We already talked about that when we got back," Lex said as he gave his father a confused look.

"Not really. You only told me that you went to the beach and the girls dragged to the mall. That couldn't have been all that happened." Danny twisted around in his seat to glance between his sons.

"That's pretty much all that happened with me," Lex said, his shoulders rolling in a small shrug. "Xan, on the other hand, spent most of the time in his hotel room."

Xander tore his gaze away from the window to glare at his brother. He punched Lex's arm, making his twin wince and rub the sore spot.

Danny stared at his younger son. "Did something happen when you were in your hotel room?"

"Of course not!" Xander forced a grin. "Why are you asking all of a sudden?"

"Yeah," Dash said, glancing away from the road to his lover. "Why are you suddenly so interested in their trip?"

"Just curious," Danny replied as he turned back to face the front of the car again. The frown remained on his face, and he felt disappointed with the lack of information he had received. For the remainder of the ride to Dash's mother's house, Danny was silent. Dash could tell his lover was brooding over something, but he couldn't be sure of what.

When they reached the house, an hour drive away from their home, they were greeted by the elderly woman sitting on her porch. She looked up from her book upon hearing the car doors slam shut. Smiling, she closed the book, setting it aside before rising from her seat on the bench.

"It's so good to see you again, Son," Mrs. Baxter said as she drew her son into a hug. "And Danny! You're still so thin!" She gave her son-in-law a hug as well. "You haven't been skipping meals, have you?" She turned to her son again. "You've been making sure he eats proper meals, haven't you?"

"Yes, Mrs. Baxter," Danny said, grinning widely at the woman. "He's been forcing me to stuff my face every day."

"That's good! You're practically skin and bones. And how many times do I have to tell you to drop the formalities? Call me Mom." Then Mrs. Baxter noticed the teenagers. "And these must be my grandchildren!" She drew the two boys into a hug. "I'm so happy that I finally get to meet you. Now which one of you is Lex and which one is Xander?"

"I'm Lex. He's Xander," Lex said, pointing first to himself and then to his twin.

"Why don't we continue this inside?" Dash suggested, already leading his lover toward the front door. "You can make some of that delicious lemonade you used to make for me."

"Already ahead you there. I made some hours ago." Mrs. Baxter placed a hand on each of her grandson's shoulders and ushered them toward the front door. Once inside, she led the boys to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Dash dragged his lover up the stairs to the second level of the house.

"Dash, why are we coming up here?" Danny asked, his face scrunching up in confusion as his lover pulled him into one of the bedrooms. He recognized the room from the one time he had been in Dash's parents' house many years ago. He had destroyed much of the room in his fight with Technus.

"We need to talk," Dash said as he turned to face the other man.

"That doesn't sound good." Danny grew worried when Dash forced him to sit upon the bed. He watched the man pace for a while, apparently thinking about how to say what he need to talk about. "Will you just spill it already?"

"It's about what happened the night my dad died," Dash answered after a long pause.

Danny remained silent, waiting for the man to continue. He wasn't sure why Dash was bringing up his father's death after so many years, but if his lover needed to talk about it, then Danny would listen.

"We were on our way back from the airport. We had just gotten back from California, visiting colleges there," Dash explained as he began pacing again. "My dad was all excited about my scholarships and talking about how I was going to have a great career in football. I didn't want a football career. I mean, it was great in high school. I was popular because of it, and I liked that. But that's not what I wanted to do with my life. By senior year, all the other jocks were talking about what they planned to do with their lives. None of them expected to play football professionally.

"When we went to the colleges, I saw all these really great players. They were all so much better than I was. It really helped me realize I didn't want to take that scholarship. I didn't want to play football in college. I wanted to pursue my dream of becoming a cook and opening my own restaurant. My mom gave me that dream. She taught how to bake cookies when I was six and then how to bake a cake when I was eight. I really enjoyed that, even more than playing football. I liked seeing people's faces when they tasted something I had cooked.

"Anyway, I finally got sick of my father going on and on about how great I was going to be. I told him I wasn't going to play football in college. He was really silent for a moment. Then his face got all red and he shouted, 'What do you mean you aren't going to play football?'" Dash shouted the question in his best impression of his father.

Danny worried for a moment that the boys would hear the shout, but he shook the thought from his head as he focused on what his lover was saying.

"I told him that I planned to go to the culinary college so that I could become a cook. He smacked me for that and said that he wouldn't allow his son to become some pansy cook because it would probably turn me gay." Dash paused, halting in his trek across the room. His back faced Danny, and his head hung low as he sighed. "I shouted at him that I was already gay and in love with Danny Fenton. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the hospital after my dad crashed the car into a tree."

Danny waited for his lover to continue, but Dash said no more. "Why are you telling all of this to me right now?"

"You know when you were attacked while the boys were in Florida?" Dash asked, and then continued without waiting for a response. "The boy who attacked you, I said he was on the football team. When he spoke to me, his voice sounded strange. It wasn't his normal voice. I guess it was the ghost. At first, I thought it just sounded familiar, but later I realized who it was. The ghost that possessed that boy was my father."

Danny shot up from his seat on the bed. "Your father?" he exclaimed in shock. "Your father is trying to kill me?"

"Perhaps it's that whole 'unfinished business' thing you explained to me before, like with Lex and Xander's mom. He probably blames you for making me gay, and so he wants to get rid of you like that would change anything." Dash turned to face Danny. He searched his lover's face, trying to gauge how he would react.

"If – If it is 'unfinished business,' then he's going to keep attacking until he finally succeeds," Danny said. "You realize what I have to do, right?"

"Let me do it," Dash said, causing Danny to gape for a moment. "He's my father, and it's my fault that he's coming after you. I should be the one to destroy his ghost."

"If you feel you have to, then I'll step down and let you handle it." Danny wore a worried look, uncertain about letting Dash fight his father's ghost. "I'll talk to some of the ghosts to see if I can get some information about him, see what sort of abilities he may have."

"Thanks… for letting me do this." Dash cupped Danny's cheeks and leaned in for a kiss.

"Gah! Don't you do anything besides make out with each other?" Lex shouted when he caught his parents kissing again. "Grandma told me to come get you two." He disappeared out of the room once the message had been delivered.

Danny laughed as he leaned his forehead against Dash's shoulder. "Does he have some sort of sixth sense that allows him to walk into the room right as we start kissing?"

"I wouldn't be that surprised if he did." Dash wrapped an arm around his lover's waist as they left the bedroom and headed down to the kitchen where Mrs. Baxter was telling the twins stories about her son when he was younger.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"I'm going over to my parents' house today," Danny told the twins as he parked the car in front of Casper High School.

"We know! We know!" Lex said in annoyance. "This is, like, the hundredth time you've said it. You might not be home when we get back from school. Blah, blah, blah. You can stop repeating yourself." He glanced out the window and caught sight of his friends hanging out on the front steps of the school. "Oh, there's Denise! I need to talk to her about a homework assignment." Lex climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him.

"Xan," Danny said, stopping the younger twin from getting out of the car as well. "If you ever feel the need to talk to someone about anything, you know you can come to me, right?"

"Of course, Dad," Xander replied, though he seemed confused by his father's persistent reminder. Ever since they visited Dash's mother over the weekend, Danny kept encouraging Xander to talk to him. "I need to get to class now. I'll see you later, Dad." Xander got out of the car as quickly as Lex had.

Danny watched Xander jog up to the entrance of the school and disappear inside just as the first bell rang. Sighing, he pulled the car away from the curb and headed to his parents' house. The drive was uneventful, and he reached the house in half an hour. As he approached the front door, his mother stepped out with her hands on her hips and an unhappy look on her face.

"Hi, Mom," Danny said as he reached her.

"Don't 'hi, Mom' me!" Maddie snapped. "I don't like this idea at all."

"Mom!" Danny exclaimed, following her into the house. "I have to do this."

"You should let your father and I help you. Dash doesn't know anything about fighting ghosts," Maddie said as she blocked the door to the laboratory.

"Dash isn't some incompetent, amateur ghost hunter!" Danny pushed past his mother. "He's helped me fight ghosts before. He knows exactly what he's getting himself into."

"It's different this time, Daniel! He plans to fight his father." Maddie followed her son into the laboratory where Jack already was, tinkering with his inventions.

"I know it won't be an easy fight." Danny paused briefly when he noticed Vlad lounging in one of the few chairs in the laboratory. "But Dash feels he needs to be the one to defeat his father. I'm going to support him on this in any way I can. If he can't handle his father, then I'll step in to help."

"Except that his father is trying to kill you." Vlad pointed out, watching Danny closely.

"What are you doing here, Vlad?" Danny demanded as he glared at the older half ghost.

"I invited him," Maddie said. "I thought it would be a good idea to have another person checking over the inventions to make sure everything works properly."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that lover of yours to explode into little pieces." Vlad smirked at the younger half ghost.

"That's not the only reason though, is it?" Danny's eyes narrowed at his godfather, knowing there had to be some hidden reason for his presence.

"What are you talking about? Why else would he be here?" Maddie asked, faking confusion rather poorly.

"You planned to have him follow me!" Danny exclaimed as he pointed a finger of accusation at his mother. "You don't think I can take care of myself!"

"That's not true!"

"Your mother's just worried," Jack said, finally tearing his attention away from his invention. "And so am I. You've gotten into quite a few accidents recently. You're not focused. You chased after a ghost and ended up going to the hospital for a concussion and stitches. I think we have good reason to be worried about you."

"Fine, but I'm focused now. I don't need a bodyguard to protect me." Danny felt disappointed and a little hurt that his parents didn't think he could take care of himself.

"I just think it would be better to let Vlad go into the Ghost Zone to find out information," Maddie said. "He'll be able to travel through the Ghost Zone more easily. Mr. Baxter's ghost won't be on the lookout for him."

"Yeah, just leave it to me, Daniel." Vlad smirked as he rested a hand on his godson's head like he was a young child. Frowning, Danny watched Vlad enter the Ghost Zone through the Fenton Portal.

"Come check out our cool, new inventions," Jack said, waving his son over to where he had been working. He held up a silver board that looked similar to what Valerie had used to fly around on back in her ghost hunting days. "This is the Fenton Spectral Speed Board. We made some minor adjustments to Vlad's design. With this, Dash should be able to move freely through the Ghost Zone."

"But this is the really cool invention," Maddie said as she picked up what looked like a more advanced version of the Fenton Ghost Peeler. "We upgraded the Peeler," Maddie explained as though she had read her son's mind. "This is the Fenton Ghost Vaporizer. While the Peeler can take out a ghost after multiple hits, the Vaporize is capable of wiping out a ghost's existence with one hit. Its ray causes the ghost's structure to break down until it dissolves completely."

"Since you're part ghost, its ray will affect you too," Jack said in a serious tone.

"You're worrying too much about this," Danny said, beginning to feel a little frustrated. He had been fighting ghosts for over half his life. Why were his parents suddenly so worried about him? "Dash will go in there, fight and defeat his father, and come out with enough time to cook a delicious dinner for us." Danny sighed in exasperation when his parents didn't look convinced by his statement. "Fine, whatever," he grumbled as he sat in a chair Vlad had occupied when Danny had entered the laboratory. "Go ahead and worry yourselves to death. Completely ignore that I've been fighting ghosts since I was fourteen."

"We worry because we care about you and Dash," Maddie said as a concerned look entered her eyes. "We don't want to see something bad happen to either of you. And don't forget about the twins. What would happen to them if Dash and you were to die?"

"We're not going to die, Mom," Danny said, trying to ease his parents' worries. "We'll be extra careful while fighting Dash's dad."

* * *

"Wow! This is the first time you've ever invited me over to your house," Xander said as he followed Elden up the stairs.

"Well, yeah," Elden mumbled, scratching the back of his head as he led the other boy toward his room. "My father doesn't like it when I have friends over, but since he's out of town, I thought it would be okay."

"Elden, we need to tell someone about your father. I can't keep hiding this from my family."

"Xan," Elden said with a sigh. He took his boyfriend's hand and pulled him closer. "In four years, I'll move out of here, and then I won't even have to worry about my father slipping up and doing that again. It was only once."

"No!" Xander shouted, tearing his arm from the other boy's hold as he stepped back. "I don't like you being here with him. I keep worrying that he'll do it again. Even if you say it was just that once, it happened and it could happen again."

Elden ignored his boyfriend's complaints and pulled him close again. Xander started to struggle out of his hold until he felt Elden place a gentle kiss against his lips. He sighed into the kiss, momentarily forgetting what he had been complaining about.

"Let's just enjoy the time we have alone right now," Elden whispered in Xander's ear as he guided his boyfriend farther into his bedroom.

Xander opened his mouth to complain again when they heard the front door slam shut and a man shout out Elden's name. The boy's body tensed as he turned wide gray eyes toward the open doorway as the creak of the stair floorboards filled the silent air. Shock wore off quickly, and Elden snapped into action, ushering his boyfriend toward the window.

"Elden-" Xander started to complain until the other boy slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Please just let it go for now, Xan," Elden begged as he opened the window and threw down a rope ladder for the other boy to climb down. "If my father finds you here, it will only make things worse."

Xander wanted to argue, but the footsteps right outside the door of Elden's room made him bite his tongue. He hesitated, staring at the open doorway before sighing and climbing out the window. Once he had reached the ground, Xander looked up to see Elden pull the ladder back up and shut the window. The boy moved away from the window without even looking back to his boyfriend.

"Xander?" The female's voice made the boy spin around to see the speaker. Xander blinked at the two girls standing only a few feet from the front door of Elden's house.

"What are you doing here?" Xander asked as he walked over to Sandra and Jessica.

"Jessica is Elden's cousin," Sandra replied, giving the boy a confused look. "Didn't you know that?" The boy only shook his head in response.

"Why don't we go somewhere and talk?" Jessica suggested, taking Sandra's hand and pulling her down the walkway.

"But didn't you want-"

"I can do that later," Jessica cut off the other girl. "I think there are some things I need to discuss with Xander." She paused and turned to see the boy wasn't following them. "Aren't you coming?"

Xander jerked before following the two girls down the street. When they came to a park, Jessica collapsed onto a bench, pulling Sandra down beside her. She wrapped an arm around the other girl's shoulders, causing Sandra to blush lightly.

"So what did you need to talk about?" Xander asked, wavering between sitting beside the girls and standing.

"First, sit down already," Jessica ordered, and Xander immediately flopped onto the bench. "I saw you climbing out of the window." She smirked at the boy.

"I, um, well," Xander mumbled, looking rather embarrassed for being caught. "Elden invited me over since his father was going to be out of town. But then his father came home so he made me climb out the window."

"I'm going to assume that you know about what his dad did to him," Jessica said with her gaze focused on the ground.

"Wait! You mean you know?" Xander's head snapped up, and he stared at her in shock.

"I found out last year," Jessica answered. She tightened her grip around her girlfriend's shoulders.

Sandra placed a hand on Jessica's knee and squeezed it gently in an encouraging manner. She wasn't sure what the other two were talking about, but she could sense the anger and frustrated rolling off the blonde girl.

"Our families don't really talk that much. My dad has hated his brother for years. But every year I bring a cake to Elden for his birthday since I know his father won't allow him to have a party or a few friends over to celebrate," Jessica explained. "Last year when I went, I knocked on the door, but no one answered the door. I knew they had to be home because his father's car was in the drive way and Elden rarely goes anywhere after school when he knows his father is expecting him to be home. So I took the key from the turtle hidden under the flowers near the doorstep and let myself in. When I neared the kitchen, I heard his father start yelling at him." Jessica paused, removing her arm from around Sandra's shoulders so that she could bury her face in her hands. "He said if Elden didn't start behaving, then he would do it to him again. I confronted Elden about it the next day and eventually I got him to tell me about the rape."

"I keep trying to get Elden to tell someone who can help him, but he won't," Xander said, frowning as he dropped his gaze to his hands. "He thinks his father won't do again. It was a 'one time thing.' But I can't stop thinking that his father will do it again. He did it once. What's stopping him from repeating it?"

"And he probably made you promise not to tell anyone," Jessica mumbled as she bit her thumbnail in thought. "But I didn't make a promise to keep it a secret. I could tell my parents about it. I'm sure they'll do something to help him. My dad said his brother went to jail a couple of times already. I was silent because I wanted believe it won't happen again. But…" She frowned, looking down the pathway. "His father got fired from another job recently. I don't think he's told his wife and Elden about it. My dad has seen him drinking like crazy at a bar. It's possible he'll repeat past wrongs again."

"We have to tell someone quickly then." Fear shone in Xander's eyes. "His dad sounded pissed when he came home." He met Jessica's gaze and frowned. "I-"

"Would have said something if it weren't for that promise," Jessica finished for him with a smirk. "You felt you couldn't say anything because it would be betraying the trust Elden has in you. He must have a lot of trust in you if he actually told you about his dad. I think he only told me because I'm family and pressured him into it." Jessica stood, taking Sandra's hands and dragging the other girl off the bench. "We'll walk you home before going back to my house to talk to my parents." She pulled Xander off the bench as well and locked arms with him and Sandra as they headed toward the boy's house.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Danny sighed in exhaustion as he entered his house. He tossed his key onto the small table in the hallway, not caring that they slid across the smooth surface and dropped to the floor. When he wandered into the kitchen, he found Xander already preparing dinner.

"What a long day!" Danny gave a tired sigh as he collapsed into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "Where's your brother?"

"In his room, on the phone," Xander answered in a distracted tone, causing his father to frown.

"And Dash?" Danny asked as he stood and walked toward his son.

"Not home yet."

Danny watched the boy carefully. Xander appeared to be on autopilot, his movements mechanic and his voice monotonous like his mind was somewhere else completely. This made Danny worry even more about his son. He noticed Xander lowering the knife at a wrong angle and quickly grabbed the boy's hand. But he was too late, and the blade had nicked Xander's wrist. The boy stared at the blood spilling onto the counter, seeming confused by it.

"Xander!" Danny shouted, shaking his son and snapping him out of the trance. The knife clattered as it hit the floor. Xander held his wrist, wincing in pain. "What were you thinking?" Danny demanded. He dragged his son toward the kitchen table before seeking out the first aid kit. "I don't want to hear anymore lies. What is bothering you?"

"Nothing," Xander muttered, releasing his hold on his wrist so that his father could tend to the injury.

"It's not nothing! Nothing wouldn't have you so distracted that you cut yourself with a knife." Danny noticed the scared look enter Xander's eyes, and he took a moment to calm himself. "In all the years you've been cooking, not once did you ever cut yourself. If you're that distracted, then there must be something that's really bothering you. I'm worried, and I don't want to see you hurt yourself again. Please tell me what's wrong."

"I – I can't." Xander lowered his head, unable to meet his father's gaze. "I promised not to tell anyone."

"I'm not anyone. I'm your father. I have a right to know what's bothering you."

"You're not really my father," Xander grumbled.

Danny stared at the boy in shock. His body felt like it had been frozen to the core with that statement. The freshly bandaged wrist slipped through his hands as his mouth hung open. He never thought he would ever hear either of his sons say those words.

"I didn't-" Xander started saying, lifting his gaze. "Dad?" He glanced around the room but couldn't see the man crouched down before him. "Where did you go, Dad?" Xander sounded panicked. When the front door opened, he leaped out of his chair and ran to the front hall.

Danny remained in the kitchen, wondering why his powers were acting up. Xander skidded to a stop in the front hall when he noticed it was only Dash at the door. He frowned, turning away sadly.

"Thanks for the warm welcome," Dash said as he hung his coat up on a hook. "What's wrong with you?"

With a shameful look, Xander turned to face his father. "I – I said something mean, and Dad suddenly disappeared," he mumbled with a shuffle of his feet.

"Xan, why don't you go upstairs?" Danny's voice drifted into the room. "I need to speak with Dash."

The chef ruffled his son's hair as he walked toward the kitchen. "What's up, Dan-" he paused, glancing around the empty kitchen. "Where are you?"

"Right in front of you." Danny placed a hand against his lover's cheek, causing the man to flinch at the coldness.

"Okay, Danny. You can stop with the invisibility now." Dash hated when his lover used that ability.

"I wish I could," Danny said with a sigh. "I've been trying to, but I just won't become visible again." He frowned despite knowing the other man couldn't see it.

"That's weird. What happened to cause that?" Dash stared in front of him, hoping that was where the half-ghost was.

"I don't know. I was talking to Xander, trying to figure out was wrong. I mean, he cut himself while cooking dinner! He's never done that before. So I told him that as his father, I had the right to know what was wrong with him." Danny fell silent, wishing he could erase the next part from his memory.

"Go on." Dash prodded him.

"Then… Xander said that… I'm… not really his father. Then poof! I'm invisible and can't turn back."

"He actually said that?" Dash looked stunned, finding it hard to believe Xander would say something like that.

Danny nodded, and then remembering the other man couldn't see him, said, "Yes."

"I didn't mean it," whispered someone from the doorway. The two men turned to see Xander standing there. "I didn't mean to say it. I just wanted you to stop asking about what was wrong." Tears started falling down the boy's cheeks. "You're the best parents in the world. I wouldn't want anyone else to be my fathers."

"Oh, Xander!" Danny rushed over to the young boy and pulled him into a tight embrace. "I shouldn't have pried into your life like that. I was worried about you though. I don't want to see you accidentally hurt yourself again."

Dash stood back, letting his lover deal with the situation. A smile tugged at his lips when he noticed Danny become visible again. _I guess hearing "you're not my father" come from Xander caused him to lose control of his powers_, he thought, knowing that much of a shock that must have been for Danny. A frown settled onto his face. That was not a good sign.

"I promised Elden I wouldn't tell anyone," Xander said, drawing Dash's attention back to the situation at hand.

"And you didn't want to betray you friend's trust. I can understand that, but," Danny frowned, looking down at his son's injured wrist.

Before either father or son could continue the circling argument, the doorbell rang. "I'll get that," Dash announced, already halfway out the kitchen door. Danny and Xander followed quickly behind him. But Lex beat them all to answering the door.

"Elden!" Lex shouted, surprised to see the boy on their doorstep. His brother pushed him aside to see his boyfriend.

"Elden," Xander whispered, staring sadly at the other boy. Without warning, Elden threw himself at the younger twin as his sobs grew loud enough for them all to hear. "What – Did something happen?" Xander asked as fear raced through his mind. Jessica said something bad might happened, but he hoped she could contact her father before that happened.

"My father – He-" Elden cut himself off, trying to hold in another sob as he squeezed his arms tighter around the other boy. Xander felt his sense of dread grow even stronger.

"Xander, what's going on?" Danny asked.

Xander held his boyfriend closer, biting his tongue to keep from answering. Elden pulled out of Xander's hold and raised his head to look at his boyfriend's parents.

"Shit! Who the fuck gave you that shiner?" Lex shouted upon seeing the black eye.

"Language!" his parents snapped in unison, causing Lex to grumble as he glared at nothing in particular.

"Who gave you that black eye, Elden?" Dash asked. Both he and Danny took note of the way Xander caringly touched Elden's face tracing the outline of the bruise.

Elden lowered his gaze. "My father," he replied in a very soft murmur. "He – He," he hesitated, and Xander squeezed his shoulder to encourage him to continue. "He raped me. Earlier today, my cousin's family came over to tell him that they plan to fight him in court to take me away from him. After they left, my father started beating on me. I – I hit him in the head with a lamp and then ran until I got here."

Xander stared at his shaking boyfriend as tears gathered in his eyes. "You can't stay with that man anymore."

"I know," Elden whispered, holding Xander close again. "I should have listened to you."

"I hate bastards like him," Dash growled with his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Danny reached over and took hold of his lover's hand, lacing their fingers together. "Xan, why don't you take Elden into the kitchen, put something on that eye? Lex, you go too." He watched the three boys leave the front hall before turning back to his lover. "He'll probably come looking for Elden."

"I would love to give that man a piece of my mind, but he's not worth the effort." Dash removed his hand from Danny's hold and ran it through his lover's hair. "How did the information gathering go?" he asked after a long pause.

Danny heaved a sigh, resting his head on the man's shoulder. "Not very good. Can you believe my parents wouldn't let me go myself? It's like they think I'm still fourteen and don't know how to take care of myself!"

Dash released a laugh at that. "So you didn't get any information?"

"Vlad did the researching." Danny frowned when he mentioned his godfather's name. "He wasn't able to find out much though. It seems your father is very good at keeping secrets. The only thing Vlad could find out is your father's location."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go kick his ass!" Dash headed for the front door.

"You can't just rush into it like that!" Danny followed his lover. "We should at least think strategies first. And be well-rested for the fight."

Dash turned to face the man when a sudden knock at the door interrupted him. He opened the door to find an unfamiliar man in a disheveled suit on the other side.

"Can we help you?" Dash asked, not in the mood to deal with visitors.

The man glanced between the two lovers, and a frown settled onto his face. "My name is Henry Reed. I came here looking for my son, Elden," he explained.

"Sorry. He isn't here. Our sons aren't allowed to have company over this late on a school night," Danny told the man, reaching over to shut the door.

"Oh," Mr. Reed said as his nose wrinkled in an expression of disgust. "You're that kind of people."

"And just what do you mean by that kind of people?" Danny demanded, glaring at the man as his eyes flashed green briefly. Dash sighed, understanding why his lover would get upset, but he didn't want to start a pointless fight when they had a more important battle to attend.

"I mean that you're filthy gays," Mr. Reed retorted, holding his head up high in a show of superiority. "You're kind shouldn't be allowed to adopt children."

"We're better parents then you. Now get the fuck away from our house!" Danny shouted, receiving a pinch in the back from Dash for using a swear word.

"I know my son is here," Mr. Reed stated. "You'll return him to me now before you infect him with your gayness."

"Infect him!" Danny growled. "You're worried about us turning your son gay? Being gay isn't some disease you catch from another homosexual. It isn't our fault if Elden is attracted to other boys."

"Look, Mr. Reed," Dash said as he covered his lover's mouth to stop Danny from continuing his rant. "We could argue until the sun comes up, and it will have gotten us nowhere. I suggest you leave now."

"If you don't hand my son over right this minute, I'll have you arrested for kidnapping."

"And we'll be more than happy to tell the police about how you beat and rape your son." Dash smirked as the man fumed. "I'm sure they would just love to hear the story directly from Elden. He could tell them in detail how you raped him, how you beat him after finding out his aunt and uncle are going to take him away from you, and how he ran to our home to escape your wrath."

"This isn't over," Mr. Reed warned before turning on his heel and leaving.

Dash sighed as he closed the door. "You win. We'll wait until the morning to fight my father." He ignored the little grin on his lover's face as they headed toward the kitchen. "But you do realize the boys don't have school tomorrow, right?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't catch that." Danny laughed to hide his embarrassment.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"Why are we going to Grandma and Grandpa Fenton's house?" Lex asked from where he sat between Xander and Elden in the back seat of the car.

"Because Dash and I have something we need to do," Danny explained vaguely, "so my parents are going to watch over the three of you while we're gone."

"That's such a great answer," Lex grumbled. "Can't you tell us what it is you have to do?"

Danny sighed as he rubbed his temples in frustration. He wished he could just fast forward to after the fight with Mr. Baxter, but unfortunately, he couldn't do that without Clockwork's help, and he doubted Clockwork would offer the use of his powers for that. Glancing into the rearview mirror, he stared at Elden. Though he felt he could trust the boy, Danny wasn't sure if he wanted to let another person know about his powers. "Just some grown up business."

"Why are parents always so vague about things?" Lex sat back as he folded his arms across his chest.

Danny noticed a little smirk on his lover's face and felt a grin tug at his mouth. Dash parked the car in front of the Fenton's home, and the five occupants climbed out before walking up to the door. Before Danny could knock, the door flew open, revealing Jack Fenton.

"Did you get kicked out of the laboratory again, Dad?" Danny asked as he ushered the children inside the house.

"No, I was assigned to door watching duty," Jack answered with a proud smile.

"In other words, Mom and Vlad wanted you out of the way from the very beginning so that you couldn't blow something up." Danny smirked, though his father frowned at the statement.

"Need I remind you of the time you nearly blew up the house?"

"Hey! That's not fair! You never told me it was _that_ important to change the filter." Danny took a deep breath before releasing it slowly as he shook his head. "Just watch the boys while Dash and I are gone."

"I'm still not sure I like the idea of you going in there," Jack said, becoming unusually serious. "The man is trying to kill you."

"What?" exclaimed three voices, causing Danny to smack his forehead at his father's slip.

"Thanks, Dad. Real subtle. Try not to tell them too many 'tall tales' please." Danny took Dash's hand and pulled him toward the laboratory.

"Well someone needs to let them in on what's going on!" Jack shouted. Then he showed the boys into the front room to explain the situation to them, which took longer than he thought because they had to explain a few extra details to a very shocked and confused Elden.

"Why didn't we just tell them?" Dash asked as they walked down the stairs into the laboratory.

"Because I didn't want them attempting to make us change our minds," Danny replied with a tired sigh. "This is something we have to do. Your father isn't going to stop, and he has all eternity to keep trying to kill me."

"So you're really going through with this?" Maddie asked with concern in her voice. She wore a worried expression on her face.

"I just said we had to do this. We'll be fine, so please don't worry so much." Danny smiled at his mother, hoping that somehow it would lessen her fears.

Maddie sighed in defeat and led Dash over to one table. She explained to him how to use the Fenton Spectral Speed Board and the Fenton Ghost Vaporizer. She also gave the blond man one more item: the Fenton Ghost Grabber Version 2. Unlike the previous version, this one was made up of two black, seemingly normal gloves. For a moment, Dash almost thought the woman had lost it. But when he put them on, he could tell right away that they weren't normal gloves. He could feel the wires running through the thin fabric when he flexed his hands.

"Have you marveled over my parents' invention enough yet?" Danny asked, grinning.

"Actually, Vlad came up with the design for this," Maddie said. "He's the one who pointed out that the original Ghost Grabber was much too bulky and inconvenient for ghost hunting."

"How nice of him," Danny mumbled. "Well, let's get this over with." He grabbed Dash's hand and pulled him toward the opened Ghost Portal. Before entering, he turned back to his mother. "Don't worry about us. We'll be back before you know it." Then the couple disappeared inside the Ghost Zone as the Portal doors closed behind them.

The two men moved through the Ghost Zone in silence. Danny had switched to ghost form upon entering while Dash had to use the Spectral Speed Board to move around in the Ghost Zone. After about an hour had passed, Danny halted, making his lover stop as well.

"That's what he's been using as a hideout," Danny said as he pointed toward the giant black sphere mere feet in front of them. He glanced at his lover to find an emotionless mask upon the man's face.

Dash said nothing as he flew toward the sphere, and Danny followed after him. On the side of the sphere, they found a small opening. When they entered, the door snapped shut with a loud echoing boom. Danny jumped at the noise while Dash simply ignored it. Dash was too focused on finding his father to notice it. After a long tunnel lit by green lights, they entered the sphere's heart: a large chamber with a domed roof.

Danny sensed another ghost's presence, but he couldn't seem to locate it within this environ. It was like something within the sphere was messing with his abilities. As he scanned the area, he saw an ecto blast heading at him. He leaped out of the way, barely avoiding the blast.

Dash appeared before him, acting like a shield as he fired a blast at the ghost. But the ghost dodged and the beam from the Vaporize crashed into the far wall. Cracks formed in the otherwise smooth wall, small chips of debris hitting the floor with dull thuds. "Remember. This is my fight," Dash whispered as he looked for where his father disappeared to.

Danny didn't need the reminder. He backed up, leaving the battlefield for Dash, but he knew he wouldn't be allowed to simply sit back and watch. Mr. Baxter wanted to kill him and would probably do whatever possible to get around Dash so that he could attack his true target. Danny gritted his teeth as he watched Dash attack his father. Mr. Baxter was surprisingly fast, zooming about the arena as he avoided being hit by the Vaporize. The dome wasn't as lucky, and each blast caused wreckage to their surroundings.

"Dash!" Danny shouted, panic squeezing inside his chest when an ecto blast struck Dash.

Dash hit the ground, knocked off the Spectral Speed Board, which clattered across the floor. The Vaporize dropped from his hold, and Danny jumped into the air and floated there when a stray shot from the Vaporize came at him. Dash tried to get up, but Mr. Baxter appeared before him suddenly. He thrust a hand downward, burying it into his son's left shoulder. Dash screamed as the hand was ripped free, blood splattering onto his face and the floor.

Rage crashed through Danny, and he couldn't sit by any longer. He shot forward, flying toward Mr. Baxter, and he tackled the ghost. They rolled on the floor, and Danny shoved his feet into the ghost's gut and kicked out hard, sending Mr. Baxter flying over him. The ghost landed with a grunt a few feet from Danny. They both climbed to their feet and glared at each other.

"So you're that disgusting boy that ruined my son's life," Mr. Baxter said with a sneer. His ebony hair was slicked back without a single hair out of his place, and his matching mustache looked perfectly groomed. He dressed in a neat white business suit that made Danny a little sick to look at.

"I did _not_ destroy Dash's life!" Danny shouted as his gaze darted toward Dash, who remained on the floor, holding a hand to his injured shoulder. He caught Dash's eyes and knew Dash hadn't wanted Danny getting involved in this fight.

"Silence!" Mr. Baxter barked with a force that seemed to shake the sphere.

Danny returned his attention in time to put up a barrier as Mr. Baxter attacked. His eyes grew wide when the ghost's fist tore right through it. He moved to dodge, but Mr. Baxter's fingers dug into his thigh. Gasping and trying not to shout in pain, Danny hit the ground on his side. He winced as he struggled to get back to his feet. Mr. Baxter loomed over him, smirking victoriously as glared down at Danny. He thought the battle was won, but he didn't know everything about Danny Phantom. After taking a deep breath, Danny released a shout. Mr. Baxter fought against the power of the Ghostly Wail, but he wasn't anywhere close to being as strong as Vlad. The Wail knocked him back into the wall with enough force to send him hurtling through it. Danny dropped back to his knees, feeling drained after using the Wail. Over the years, he had gotten more powerful, and the Wail didn't usually drain him as much as when he was fourteen. But blood flowed from the wound in his leg, making him strangely dizzy. He pitched forward onto the floor, trying to cling to any small piece of consciousness that he could.

Across the room, rubble shifted as Mr. Baxter crawled free from the chunks of the wall burying him. He sneered at the half ghost lying prone on the floor. Danny was perfectly defenseless right now, and Mr. Baxter wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him. He moved toward Danny when a brilliant beam of white seared through his chest. His gaze snapped toward the direction it came from and met with the cold glare of his son. Dash knelt with his left arm dangling uselessly beside him as he held up the Vaporize with his right hand. It remained trained on his father, though a second shot was unnecessary. Mr. Baxter screamed out his rage as his ghostly being dissolved into nothingness.

After the last speck of Mr. Baxter's ghost faded away, the sphere melted away. Dash started to lunge for Danny, but they both started falling after the grounded disappeared under them. Panic surged through him. Danny still hadn't moved since he collapsed and reverted back to his human form. The Spectral Speed Board was too far out of his reach for him to grab hold of it and use it to rescue them both. Then arms caught hold of him. Dash glanced back to see a ghost that looked like a knight out of some medieval era holding onto him. Then he snapped his attention back to Danny. He sighed with relief when Vlad floated toward them, holding Danny in his arms.

"You did well eliminating your father," Vlad said with the smallest amount of praise. "However, I think we made an error allowing Daniel to join you."

Cold terror grabbed at his heart, but before Dash could ask anything, Vlad flew toward the Fenton Portal. The unfamiliar ghost followed Vlad as he carried Dash. When they returned to Fenton Works, Maddie was already examining her son. Dash pulled free of the knight's arms and hurried to Danny's side.

"What's wrong?" he demanded in fear.

"There's something embedded in his leg," Maddie explained, digging into the wound on Danny's thigh with a pair of long forceps.

"What kind of something?"

"It's nothing too serious," Vlad answered, though he looked concerned. "It seems your father had been developing a skill to destabilize a ghost. In a normal ghost, that would be rather dangerous, but still being half human may have saved Daniel from a worse fate. Reverting back to human stalled the process. He'll be fine as soon as we remove what your father left inside Daniel."

The news didn't make Dash feel any better. "He knew about Danny being half ghost." He didn't need to question it. The fact that his father had sought a way to destroy Danny while in ghost form made it obvious. _He's been watching and planning this for a while_, he thought, fists clenching tightly at his sides in anger. "This is my fault for falling in love with him."

"I don't want to hear you say shit like that again," Danny muttered, cracking open his eyes to shoot a glare at Dash. "I'm going to be fine, and your dad is gone. We don't have to worry about him interfering with our lives again."

"Got it!" Maddie announced in triumph as she ripped the small silver item from her son's leg.

Danny bit his tongue to hold back a shout of pain. Dash took hold of Danny's hand, not making a sound no matter how hard Danny squeezed it as they stitched up the injury to his leg. "Your turn, Mr. Tough Guy," Danny said, glaring at the bleeding wound on Dash's left shoulder.

Dash sighed, but waited patiently as Maddie checked his wound for any similar silver objects like the one that was in Danny's leg. When she found nothing, she saw to stitching up his shoulder. He was glad the woman had such good medical skills because he didn't feel like making a trip to the hospital. "I hope you can survive without pain killers," he said, shuddering at the thought of an overly hyper Danny to care for again.

"I think I can make it," Danny mumbled, rolling his eyes. He put an arm around Dash, who helped him off the table.

"I do hope you are done with the family dramatics now," Vlad said dully, but all present knew the older half ghost was concerned for his godson.

"Yes, I believe we are. And we thank you for helping us," Danny said, offering a rare smile to Vlad. Then he sighed as he turned back to Dash. "I guess we have to go talk with the kids." He almost looked hopeful that they could avoid it, but he knew without Dash even saying anything that it was inevitable.

The ghost that Dash hadn't met before disappeared back into the Ghost Zone while the rest of them climbed the stairs out of the laboratory. When they entered the kitchen, they found two angry glares directed at them. Elden had his head resting on his arms and looked like he had fallen asleep. Jack shifted awkwardly in his seat, and Danny realized his father had spilled the beans about several details.

"Why didn't you just tell us what was going on?" demanded the twins, their voices causing Elden to awaken with a jerk.

"Sorry, boys," Dash replied as he helped Danny into a seat. They could see the worry in their sons' eyes as they spotted the blood stains on Dash's shirt and Danny's pants. "We thought it best not to tell you."

"But it was your father!" Xander argued.

"Pfft! You really think it matters how they were related?" Lex muttered as he slumped in his seat. "Elden's dad raped and beat him. Our mother tried to kill you. Is it really that surprising that Dash's father hated homosexuality so much that even after dying he wanted to kill Danny?"

Xander dropped his gaze with a miserable look.

"We probably should have explained all this beforehand," Danny said, rubbing at his forehead. "I'm sorry that we keep keeping these secrets from you." He glanced at his children, worried he would see hate in their eyes. "It's supposed to be our job to worry about you, not the other way around. And facing his father was something Dash needed to do."

"But everything's okay now," Dash said, rubbing Danny's shoulder. "We don't have to worry about my father trying to hurt our family. And from now on, we won't keep secrets like this from you." He ran a hand through his hair. "I guess when you're in this family, ghost hunting becomes necessary."

"Does that mean we can go on patrols with you?" Lex asked hopefully with excitement bright in his eyes.

"Only on weekends if you've gotten your homework done," Danny said sternly. He wasn't going to allow his children to struggle with their grades like he had because of ghosts. The twins decided that was an acceptable arrangement. Danny's attention turned to Elden, who remained quiet through the exchange. "Have you spoken with your relatives?"

Elden glanced at Xander before turning back to Danny. "Yeah, I got a call from my cousin not too long ago. Her parents contacted their lawyer and are working to build a case against my father." He snorted bitterly. "Which shouldn't be too hard."

"Did they say what's going to happen to you while the case is going on?" Dash asked.

"They offered to let me stay with them. But would it be all right if I stay with you until everything is decided?" Elden smiled weakly with hope in his eyes.

Danny exchanged a quick glance with Dash. "We'd be happy to take you in." He pointed at Elden. "But you're not sharing a room with Xander." Elden nodded quickly, understanding perfectly.

They stayed at Fenton Works for dinner, Dash and Danny feeling too tired to drive the children home and then cook dinner. Vlad decided to join them, helping Maddie with the cooking while the family relaxed in the front room as they watched some random movie on television. The three teenagers got comfortable on the couch while Danny curled up in Dash's lap.

While the teenagers were distracted with the movie, Danny whispered quietly, "Do you regret falling in love with me?" He didn't look at Dash, half scared of the answer.

"Of course not." Dash kissed him, a quick peck on the lips so that the twins wouldn't express their embarrassment of having their fathers kiss in front of them. "I'd regret every day of my life if you weren't in it."

Danny blushed darkly and hoped the teenagers hadn't heard that. "I feel the same," he said softly and kissed Dash before he rested his head on Dash's chest. He only half paid attention to the movie playing on the television as he thought about how glad he was that he had met Dash again after graduating from Casper High School. He wouldn't have wanted his life to be any different.


End file.
